Of Cats and Dark Energy
by Argonaut57
Summary: Soon after Commander Adam Shepard brought the 'Normandy' and its crew back through the Omega 4 Relay, he's in demand again! Two incidents, at opposite ends of the Galaxy, need his attention. But first, he must deal with the blue box that just appeared in Engineering and the massive ship floating dead ahead! Guest starring the 12th Doctor. Legion not activated. Adept!Shepard.
1. Chapter 1

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 1: The Bad Wolf Protocol**

The _Normandy_ was back in shape, at least. She had come back through the Omega 4 Relay pretty banged-up, but her new – self-appointed – Chief Engineer, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, was a brilliant and tireless martinet. The ships' advanced survey and mining facilities were undamaged, which meant that raw materials were not a problem. Where parts or items needed to be purchased, there were still enough credits left from their former Cerberus funding to cover their needs. For now.

Not that Commander Shepard was worried about money. The produce from their mining operations could be sold legitimately for considerable sums. Illegitimately, they could be sold for a lot more, but Shepard was not willing to go down that route. If the Blue Suns or Eclipse wanted strategic supplies, they could go elsewhere.

What worried Shepard was his crew, or what should have been his lack of a crew. The bulk of them were, or had been, Cerberus operatives, and after his last, tense, interview with the Illusive Man, Shepard had expected either mass desertion or outright mutiny. Neither had happened. There had been a few crewmen who had not come back from shore-leave, but less than half a dozen. Yeoman Kelly Chambers, Shepards' Admin Assistant-cum-Ships' Counsellor, told him that the crew had decisively shifted their loyalties: "It wasn't the Illusive Man who went through that relay to get them back!"

That caused the Commander some concern. These people needed to be looked after. Fed, clothed, paid. Many of them had families, families who Cerberus might use as leverage. Shepard still retained his rank as a Council Spectre, but that was a card he didn't want to play unless he had to. He'd been allowed to keep the rank because the Council wanted to avoid a scandal, but he wasn't sure how far he could push things.

Then there was the matter of the others. Tali had made it clear that she was staying with Shepard, whatever happened, and there was nothing he wanted more. Jeff 'Joker' Moreau, the best pilot in the galaxy, would be wherever the _Normandy_ went, that was a certainty, and while Joker had Vrolik Syndrome, Dr Chakwas would be there to treat him. Jacob Taylor, the Cerberus operative who had been with Shepard since he awakened in the labs of the Lazarus Project, had also made it clear that he would follow the Commander. He had even followed suit when Shepard had abandoned the Cerberus uniform he'd been wearing for a plain black outfit of his own design. Shepards' old friend and comrade, the turian Garrus Vakarian, had simply noted that he'd better stick around, given the Commanders' penchant for getting into trouble! As for the tank-bred krogan, Grunt, Shepard was his Battlemaster, and that was that.

Others, however, had more obscure reasons for staying. The salarian, Mordin Solus, had just said: "Best lab I ever had. Helpful AI. Lot of work to do. This best place." Shepard guessed he was working on the genophage, trying to find a more humane answer to the krogan problem. The drell assassin, Thane Krios, simply had nowhere else to go, and was apparently content. The same seemed to apply to Jack, the artificially-augmented human biotic. When Shepard had said to her that he was surprised at her staying, her veneer of toughness had cracked enough for her to admit that the _Normandy_ was the only place she had ever felt safe. More puzzling were the two other humans, the thief Kasumi Goto, and the hardened mercenary, Zaeed Massani. Both had just said that they might as well stay put until another job came up, and would admit no more. The asari Justicar, Samara, was equally cryptic, saying only that there was 'something left to do'.

All of which left only the person he was going to see now. Miranda Lawson was an officer of Cerberus, and almost fanatically loyal to the cause. Since his falling-out with the Illusive Man, Shepard had been half-expecting Miranda to try and seize control of the ship. The matter was further complicated by the coolness that had existed between them since he had supported Jack in an argument with Miranda. The fact that, morally at least, Jack was in the right, had meant nothing to the woman she referred to as the 'Cerberus cheerleader'. Miranda and Shepard had barely spoken since, but now she had sent for him.

As he entered the office, she glanced up and gestured him to a seat. Miranda was dark, curvaceous and sensually lovely, despite her habitually severe expression. Shepard knew, however, that her looks were all part of a set of carefully-designed genetic enhancements made to Miranda and her sister by their wealthy, ambitious and domineering father. _Sexy by design._ He thought, as he watched Miranda pretend to finish off some work. She was nervous, something unusual for her. When she finally spoke it was in a lighter tone than she had used with him for some time.

"I wouldn't have pegged you as the type for mutiny, Shepard." She said.

"Barratry, actually." He replied in a similar tone. "Mutiny is when the crew take control of a ship from the captain and officers. When a captain, with or without the support of his officers, turns the vessel to his own purposes, as distinct from the owners', it's barratry."

"I didn't know that." She admitted. "However, your act of barratry has had consequences. When you refused to preserve the Reaper technology for Cerberus, the Illusive Man went raging to our backers, telling them you'd betrayed us. Unfortunately for him, he hadn't told them what he'd planned, and some of them – more than half, in fact – thought you'd done exactly the right thing. Then they started asking about other things Cerberus had done that they hadn't known about, and things got very tense.

"So now, Cerberus is split. The Illusive Man still has the support of a small group, enough to carry on, but at a reduced level. The larger group has decided on a different strategy. They feel that the best way to advance humanity is to work with, rather than against, the other races. But they still don't want to be bogged down by Alliance red tape. So they struck a deal with the Alliance to make you a Corsair, but this time a fully independent one. The new private organisation, they're calling themselves Hermes, will continue to fund you at the same level Cerberus did, and occasionally they'll ask you to do jobs for them. But this time, it'll be up to you which jobs you do and how you do them.

"There's more. Hermes reached out to the Council through Anderson, to let them know that things had changed. The Council weren't sure until your name was mentioned, but then, after you'd shared all the data you got beyond the Omega 4 relay, they figured they owed you one, so they confirmed your status as a Spectre, with full privileges to operate wherever you like."

"Sounds perfect." Shepard said. "But why are you telling me this? And where do you stand on the whole thing?"

Miranda got up and began to pace, he had never seen her so nervous, so unsure.

"Both Hermes and the Illusive Man contacted me." She said. "Both promised me I'd retain my rank and status if I worked with them. But.." she seemed to be searching for a way to say things, "...Hermes offered me the choice, to work with them, or to go my own way. The Illusive Man...Shepard, it was like he was whistling for his pet dog to come to heel!

"I told you once that I joined Cerberus because they gave me somewhere to belong, and you said I was thinking of myself as a tool to be used, not a person. I was kind of upset about that, but the fact that the Illusive Man thought of me in the same way woke me up.

"I've watched you, Shepard, at first because it was my job, then later because I couldn't understand what I was seeing. You believe in duty, in discipline, in a chain of command, just as I do. But you never let that interfere with your own moral compass. Orders or no orders, you'll always do what you feel is right.

"You helped me get Oriana safe. Not because you had to, not because I'd owe you, but because it was the right thing to do. And when you supported Jack against me, I was furious with you. But then I saw the inside of that Reaper ship, and what they did to those people, and I realised that it was no different from what Cerberus had done to Jack and all the other kids in that place. I finally saw the path the Illusive Man was heading down. You can't defeat an enemy by becoming him.

"So I joined Hermes, and I'm willing to stay on as your First Officer, if you'll have me. All I ask is that you answer me one question."

"Ask away." Shepard said.

"On Zorya, when Zaeed set the refinery alight, you left a lot of people to die so you could hunt down Santiago. Why?"

Shepard frowned. "That wasn't an easy choice. But when Zaeed told me his story, I did more than listen, I watched. Sure Zaeed wanted revenge, but it was more than that. Massani's a badass, through and through, a fighting man. But all he ever wanted was to do his job and collect his pay. Santiago was something more, a psychopath, he killed because he could and because he liked it. The Blue Suns are one of the best armed and trained mercenary groups in the Galaxy. Santiago was the kind of man who'd make a grab for power, real power, one day, and it would be bloody. I had to weigh the loss of a few lives in that refinery against the thousands, maybe millions, who would have died if Santiago stayed in charge of the Suns.

"Put it another way, you don't want an army out there led by the kind of man who can scare Zaeed Massani!"

"No, you don't!" Miranda agreed. "But it's just that kind of decision that you manage to make and that I don't trust myself to."

"Yet." Shepard told her. "You have to give yourself time. More, you have to stop being what others want you or made you to be. You need to find out who Miranda Lawson is and what she stands for."

"Not going to be easy." She admitted.

"It never is," he allowed, "but you're not alone, remember. But now, we have a ship to run!"

The messages came through simultaneously. One was from Hermes: a colony on the edge of human space had been attacked. There were survivors, but communications were reduced to a few garbled messages and an automatic beacon. Alliance relief ships were on their way, but Shepard had been asked to look into the matter. Further information would be sent as it arrived.

The second was more urgent. It came direct from the Council and stated that an asari colony -again on the fringe of their territory – had been attacked and completely wiped out. The only information was a message from the officer in charge of an asari commando unit stationed at the colony, and that was sparse. As the closest available Spectre, Shepard was being asked to go and find out what had happened. The commando message would be forwarded to the _Normandy._

"Two incidents, half a Galaxy apart!" He said to Miranda, who had joined him in the Briefing Room. "How am I supposed to deal with both?"

"A month ago," Miranda replied, "I'd have said to follow up on the human colony and let the asari take care of their own. Now, I'm not so sure." She frowned. "Intel on both is fragmentary, but to me, the attack on the human colony sounds like it might be a slaver raid. The fact that there are survivors means it's unlikely to be the Collectors or the Reapers.

"The asari colony, though, that's different. A total wipeout, that includes taking out one of their commando units. We both know that asari commandos are as elite as troops get. That sounds like geth, or worse.

"My best advice is to send a small team in a shuttle to the human colony to take a look. You should take the _Normandy_ to the asari colony."

Shepard was about to agree when the holographic globe that represented EDI, the ships' AI, activated.

"Alert!" The pleasant female voice was tight with synthetic urgency. "Security breach in Engineering!"

"What?" Shepard barked. "What kind of breach?"

"Unknown." EDI replied. "An unidentified device has simply appeared there. I can get no readings of any kind from it."

Then the intercom opened. "Commander? This is Engineer Daniels. We've got a situation, here!"

"Stay calm, Gabriella." Shepard said in a measured tone. "Tell me what happened?"

"Well," she was obviously distracted, "there was this... _noise_...and then it appeared. Some kind of big box. Blue, made of wood, light on top. Says 'Police' on it. Ken went to get a sidearm, he's just coming...Kenneth, it's opening! Be careful!"

"Get down there!" Shepard told Miranda quietly. "Pick Grunt up on the way, just in case."

As she left, Shepard heard Engineer Ken Donnellys' voice barking: "Don't move! Put your hands where I can see them!"

"Make your mind up!" Came the reply, in a rather peevish male voice. "If you want me to put my hands where you can see them, I have to move!"

"OK, then come forward slowly!" Donnelly was holding it together well, given that he was non-combat crew. "No sudden moves, and keep your hands up. I have a gun here!"

"I can see that." The other voice answered. "I'd prefer it if you'd put it down. You won't need it and you're shaking so much you're likely to set it off by accident."

"You're trying to board our ship!" Donnelly blurted.

"Not trying, I have." Was the answer. "Didn't intend to, but I often end up in unexpected places. Usually with some idiot pointing a gun at me. What's wrong with just saying hello?"

Then there was the sound of hurried footsteps and Mirandas' voice. "Stand down, Donnelly, well done! Grunt, keep an eye on the intruder. Shepard, we're here!"

"Good. Scan the intruder for weapons, then bring him up here. Shepard out.

"EDI, get my team in here!"

Tali was the first to arrive. The slender quarian woman slipped through the door, ran up to Shepard and hugged him tight.

"I thought I'd get that in before everyone else arrived!" She said. "Besides, I wanted to tell you something. You know what happens every time we're intimate?"

"You get sick." Shepard replied. "It worries me."

"Well, you can worry less!" She told him. Her breath mask was raised to him, and he could envision the smile on the alien, but oddly human-like, face behind. "Because every time, I get a bit less sick. I think I'm adapting to you, Adam, the same as I would if we were both quarian."

"As long as you don't become _completely_ immune to me!" He told her. She gave a silvery giggle, then broke apart from him as the door opened.

"I don't know why you do that." Kasumi remarked as he came into the room. "Everybody on the ship knows about you two!"

"Leave the kids alone!" Growled Zaeed as he and Mordin followed her in. "Let 'em have a bit of romance!"

"Good for morale." Mordin remarked with a benign blink of his large brown eyes. "Commander happy, crew happy."

Garrus, just behind them, commented wryly. "Except the ones who aren't getting any!"

"Kelly has her eye on you, Garrus," Shepard told him, "she may be the Commanders' yeoman, but she's not out of bounds!"

Jack just rolled her eyes, then settled herself, back to the wall, close to the door. She still wasn't comfortable near too many people. Jacob also said nothing, simply saluting Shepard and taking position near him, an unobtrusive but dedicated bodyguard.

"Miranda and Grunt are on the way with our 'visitor'." Shepard told them. "Where's Samara?"

Thane, the drell assassin, answered in his usual quiet tones. "The Justicar requires a few moments to complete her meditations. She will join us as soon as she can."

The party from Engineering arrived first, and not in any expected fashion. Grunt and the intruder came in first, chatting like old friends. Miranda trailed behind, eyes slightly glazed.

"What's going on here?" Shepard demanded.

The intruder broke off and grinned at him. "Don't often get to meet a krogan." He said. "Had some catching up to do. Your other friend didn't seem to want to talk."

"I couldn't," Miranda commented, "get a word in edgeways."

"Write that one up." Jack remarked, just loudly enough for everyone to hear, and met Mirandas' venomous glare with a lazy smile.

Shepard studied the newcomer. He looked human. Tall and thin, with a mass of vigorous grey hair, and a craggy, lined face out of which a pair of fierce blue eyes also studied Shepard from under a set of formidable eyebrows. He was wearing a white shirt, a plum-coloured jacket, dark trousers and sturdy shoes.

Then Mordin spoke. He had been quietly scanning the man with his omni-tool, now he looked up and said. "Fascinating. Looks human, but isn't. Too robust. Advanced neurological makeup. Brain activity off charts. Two hearts. Cells storing large amounts of bio-energy, unknown type. Potential for extreme longevity, perhaps immortality."

"You're an alien, then." Shepard said. "Why do you look like a human?"

"Parallel evolution, it happens." The man replied. "Besides, everyone's an alien to someone." He looked around. "A salarian, a turian, a drell, a krogan, and the young lady in the Encounter Suit isn't a Vorlon, so she must be a quarian.

"That would make you Commander Adam Shepard. Have you been through the Omega 4 relay, yet? More importantly, what am I doing here?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Shepard wanted to know. "Along with how you know me and, more importantly, who the hell are you?"

"I don't know why I'm here -I usually don't until after I arrive, anyway – but this is too far off the beaten track." The stranger said impatiently. "Everybody knows Commander Shepard, you're a legend!"

"He's right about that." Miranda allowed. "But the Terminus systems aren't that far out!"

"I'm not talking about _space_!" The alien retorted. "Space is neither here nor there – just everywhere. I'm talking about time!"

"That makes no sense at all." Garrus commented. "Time isn't a place, it just is. And you still haven't told us who you are!"

"He is the Oncoming Storm." The stern contralto made them all jump. They had been so fixed on the intruder that nobody had noticed Samara enter. Now the stately asari approached the stranger and inclined her head with guarded respect.

"The Oncoming Storm," she repeated, "and the Peacemaker. The Destroyer of Worlds and the Protector of the Weak. The Voice of the Voiceless and the Silencer of Kings. The Lonely God and the Sainted Physician." She turned to Shepard. "But he calls himself the Doctor. I felt there was something left to do for me here, Shepard. If the Doctor is here, then my feeling was correct."

It was a measure of the respect all the others held for the Justicar that nobody, not even Jack, made to argue with or question her certainty. The Doctor, however, simply snorted.

"Just 'Doctor' will do." He said. "That was portentous, even for an asari. Who are you?"

"I am the Justicar Samara." She replied, her gravity untouched by his tone.

"A Justicar? Well, that explains it!" He replied.

Before he could say any more, the local EDI terminal activated. "Shepard," the AI announced, "I have more information for you. Predicated upon Professor Solus' medical data, and the configuration of the vehicle now in Engineering, I have searched Alliance databases. The results confirm that our guest is the individual identified as the Doctor, and that the Bad Wolf Protocol should be put into force immediately."

"The Bad Wolf Protocol?" Shepard frowned. "I think I remember that from N7 training. Something about extraordinary circumstances?"

"It is security coded Ultra-violet." EDI explained. "It dates from the early 21st Century and obliges all Alliance personnel, civilian and military, and including Corsairs, to assist and support the Doctor, and to treat him as having command authority."

Shepard snapped his fingers. "I remember, now!" He said. "I thought it was weird at the time, because this Doctor would have to be incredibly old!"

"Do you mind?" The Doctor protested. "I may not be in the first flush, but..."

"But beside you, we are as children." Samara said.

"Never mind." Shepard said. "Doctor, if that's really who you are, I'm prepared to listen, and to assist you with anything you might need. But until I have clearer proof of who you are, and know more about what's going on, I'm still in command, here."

"Good!" The Doctor said. "I hate being in command. People keep expecting you to tell them what to do, instead of making their own minds up."

"You can't have soldiers deciding to do whatever they want in the middle of a mission." Jacob pointed out.

"Soldiers!" The Doctor snorted again.

"You don't like soldiers?" Jacob asked.

"I don't like the mistakes and the stupidity that make soldiers necessary." The Doctor told him. "Sooner or later, you have to sit down and talk. Why not do it _before_ you burn down houses and make widows and orphans?"

"Some enemies don't want to talk." Shepard noted.

"I know." The Doctor acknowledged. "The ones created by others to do their fighting for them. Others who ended up getting killed by their own creations. Mistakes and stupidity."

That comment, Shepard reflected, probably hit home with both Mordin and Tali. The salarians had advanced the krogan as a weapon against the rachni, only to see them become a bigger threat. The quarians had created the geth, and the whole Galaxy knew how that had turned out.

Then the intercom lit again. "Bridge to Commander. We have a problem."

"What's up, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"We have ship dead ahead." Joker replied. "Only it didn't come from anywhere. It just appeared. I barely had time to stop us ramming it!"

"What kind of ship?" Shepard wanted to know.

"Beats me." Joker responded. "No known configuration. Not geth, not Collector, not Reaper. But it's big, I figure ten times the size of the _Normandy._ What you got, EDI?"

"Very little, Jeff." The AI responded, in the special tone she reserved for the pilot. "The ship seems to be partially dormant. Life-support is active, and I detect over a thousand life-signs on board. Mostly human, but also several alien types I do not recognise. All seem to be unconscious or asleep. Their computers have firewalls I cannot penetrate, but seem extremely advanced. I detect seven active fusion reactors. I also detect stored anti-matter. There is an advanced ion drive, but I cannot detect a mass-effect drive, or any Element Zero on board. There do seem to be advanced weapons systems, though these are not currently active."

The Doctor was frowning. "Can we see it?" He asked.

"Sure." Shepard told him. "EDI?"

The holo-image of the _Normandy_ that dominated the centre of the conference table was replaced by a real-time image of a truly awesome craft. Even Jack pushed forward for a closer look. The Doctor walked round the table to stand beside Shepard, facing the saucer-shaped section that was apparently the bow. He looked at the bold lettering on the top of it and nodded soberly.

"United Federation of Planets _Galaxy_ -class starship NCC-1701-D _USS Enterprise_." He said grimly. "Now I know why I'm here."


	2. Chapter 2

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 2: "Can we render assistance?"**

Before Shepard could ask for an explanation, EDI interrupted. "Commander, the unknown ships' systems are coming back online, and the crew have recovered consciousness. Any orders?"

"Keep our shields up and stand by." Shepard said. "Let them get themselves up to speed before we do anything to scare them."

"Scare them?" Grunt said. "They're ten times our size! That'd be like a volus scaring me!"

"Just so you know," the Doctor said, "the _Enterprise_ could cut the _Normandy_ in half in seconds. Fortunately, the crew and captain are a very civilised lot. They'll want to talk."

"Commander," EDI said, "their shields just came online. Kinetic and energy barriers, even our Thanix cannon couldn't scratch them. We are also being scanned by a very powerful and sophisticated sensor array."

"Are they hacking us?" Tali asked.

"No." EDI replied. "They are making no attempt to breach our firewalls. They are examining our structure and energy signatures. They are also making bio-scans.

"One moment. Commander, they are trying to signal us across a wide range of frequencies."

"Put it through here." Shepard said.

The voice that came through was a mellow, controlled baritone. "Unknown ship, this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Federation starship _Enterprise_. We are here on a peaceful exploration mission. Please respond."

Glancing quickly around his team, Shepard responded carefully. "This is Commander Shepard of the _Normandy._ Can we render assistance?"

"Thank you for your offer," Picard replied. "but we are in no immediate need. There are no injuries among the crew, and results from our preliminary diagnostics indicate all ship functions are nominal.

"However, I would appreciate a meeting with you as soon as convenient. There are several matters on which I would value your input."

"Half an hour?" Shepard asked. "Shall I send a shuttle?"

"No need." Was the answer. "I and my Away Team will transport directly to your location. I look forward to meeting with you, Commander. Picard out."

"How are they going to get here?" Miranda demanded. "Holo-comms?"

"They have matter transporter technology." The Doctor told her. "Among other things."

"Right!" Shepard said. "Miranda, Tali, Samara and Garrus will be in the meeting with me. You too, Doctor.

"Grunt, Zaeed, I want you two to look at the intel from the two alerts we received earlier. We can't ignore those, and there might be a connection with what's happening here. Tactical analysis, full breakdown. I'm not going in blind if I can help it.

"Kasumi and Jacob, I want you to look at everything our sensors got about the _Enterprise_ and her crew. Risk analysis. If these guys are hostile, I need to know what we can do to stay alive, even if we can't beat them. Kasumi, if you can find a discreet way past some of those firewalls, it'd be a big help. Mordin, look at the bio-scan data. We've already had one visitor who looks human but isn't. See what you can find.

"Thane, Jack, I need you to make sure that all the sensitive areas of the _Normandy_ are locked down tight. We don't know what these people are capable of and I don't want any espionage or sabotage going on."

As the crew departed about their tasks, EDI reconfigured the room, closing down the hologram and bringing up seats. Shepard turned to the Doctor.

"You seem to know about these people. What can we expect?" He asked.

"An iron handshake in a velvet glove." The Doctor said. "StarFleet is the military and exploration arm of the Federation - which is like your Council. They'll always look for a peaceful solution, to make friends, to understand, but if you cross them, they'll defend themselves, and they have the power and skills to do it, and do it well.

"The _Enterprise_ is the Federations' flagship, so the crew is even more elite than most. I only know Jean-Luc Picard by reputation, but he's more than just a soldier. He's a diplomat and a scholar, but not a politician."

"Will they know you?" Garrus asked.

"They'll know _of_ me." The Doctor allowed. "I'm a little bit famous, unfortunately."

It was at that point, following a brief massage from the _Enterprise_ , that the 'Away Team' arrived, in a manner Shepard had never seen. Shimmering globes of energy appeared first, hanging in mid-air at about the height of a man's mid-section. These then expanded to form human-like silhouettes of sparkling energy, which gradually solidified into living forms. The process took about half a minute, and five people stood in the room.

Three of them definitely looked human. A compact, balding man of medium height in a black and maroon uniform, a tall red-haired woman in black and blue, and a wiry black man with yellow patches on his uniform and an odd-looking device across his eyes.

Of the other two, one was definitely alien. A tall, powerfully built man, also in black and yellow, with a dark-skinned, craggy, bearded face, a hawklike nose and a massive, domed forehead, marked with a pattern of ridges, which gave the whole head the appearance of a battering ram.

The other, also in black and yellow, was simply... _different_. Compact and wiry, with sleek dark hair and an unremarkable face, he had a golden skin and yellow eyes which roved over the room and the people in it with lively but detached curiosity.

The balding man tapped a golden badge on the front of his uniform. "Safely arrived, Number One. We will check in in an hour." Then he stepped toward Shepard, putting out a hand.

"Commander Shepard? I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Permission to come aboard?"

"Granted." Shepard replied. "Welcome aboard the _Normandy_. Please be seated and let me introduce my crew. My First Officer, Miranda Lawson; Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian; Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Normandy; Justicar Samara. This is our other guest, the Doctor."

Picard acknowledged each introduction with a courteous nod, but subjected the Doctor to a more than ordinarily keen glance. Then he said: "These are my Away Team. Ships' Chief Medical Officer Dr Beverley Crusher." The tall redhead. "Chief Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge." The man with the odd optical device. "Head of Security and Tactical Officer, Lieutenant Worf." The big alien. "And Operations Officer Lieutenant Commander Data." The yellow-skinned man.

Everyone seated themselves, then Shepard began. "So, Captain Picard, can I begin with the obvious? Who are you and where did you come from?"

"Before I answer that, Commander, may I ask what may seem an odd question?" Picard requested.

Shepard was about to consent, when the intercom beeped. "Commander?" It was Mordin. "Have some information. One of the visitors has no life-signs. Energy pattern indicates artificial life-form. Thought you should know."

Shepard shot a questioning look at Picard, who nodded. "Commander Data is an android." He admitted. "Is that a problem?"

"An AI!" Tali yelled. "They brought an AI on board!"

Garrus was out of his seat in an instant, his heavy Carnifex pistol aimed squarely at Datas' forehead. But Worf was just as quick – perhaps a shade quicker – and was also upright, a hand-weapon of unfamiliar type levelled at Garrus.

There was a moments' tense silence, then the android said in a pleasant tenor voice. "Sir, I perceive that to be a projectile weapon. I must warn you that my skull is constructed of centimetre-thick duranium alloy. In the unlikely event that you can fire before Lieutenant Worf stuns you, you will do me no significant damage, but the resulting ricochet might well cause injuries among the rest of you. If my presence aboard the _Normandy_ causes any distress, or contravenes any law or regulation, I am quite prepared to return to the _Enterprise_ at once."

This statement, delivered with apparent sincerity in a voice that held the same calm tone throughout, left Garrus nonplussed. The Doctor, however, growled: "This isn't the time or place for quarian collywobbles. Data isn't a geth, far from it."

"No, he isn't." Tali looked up a little sheepishly from her omni-tool. "I'm sorry, I overreacted."

"Stand down, Garrus." Shepard ordered.

"As you were, Mr Worf." Picard commanded.

As the two aliens holstered their weapons and retook their seats, a glance passed between them. Understanding and mutual respect.

"I apologise, Commander Data." Tali said. "My reaction was instinctive and irrational. My people were driven from their home by a race of AIs, and the war between us continues."

"I understand, Miss vas Normandy." Data replied. "But I belong to no race. I am, in fact one of only two or three of my kind."

"Commander Data has been legally declared a free citizen of the Federation." Picard added. "He is a decorated officer in StarFleet and a valued member of my crew."

"Then we welcome him as such." Shepard said. "Though it might be as well to let the majority of my crew go on thinking he's some kind of alien, at least for now.

"But you had a question for me, Captain?"

"I did." Picard allowed. "An odd one, but one that I do need answering. Can you tell me what year this is?"

Shepard blinked, then said. "2186. Why?"

Picard sighed. "When we arrived here, we scanned the area and detected an anomaly. You see, Commander, our ship comes from the 24th Century. We were testing an experimental TransWarp drive module. There was some kind of malfunction, and we found ourselves here. Star patterns indicated that we had travelled not in space, but in time, back to the late 22nd Century.

"This has happened before on several occasions, time-travel being something of an occupational hazard for StarFleet crews. However, in our history, by the year 2183, the Federation had been incorporated for some twenty years, and this area was one of it's most densely-populated zones. We should be detecting StarBases, transmissions from colonies and StarFleet communications.

"There are certainly colonies out here, and we have detected military communications, but from several different factions, including the Human Alliance. Also, your ships' configuration is entirely unfamiliar, and we can detect no warp drive, just a core of some unknown element and a source of Dark Energy.

"As to who we are, the _Enterprise_ is primarily a deep-space exploration vessel. Her crew comprises some 400 StarFleet personnel, their families, and a range of mission specialists, passengers and others, depending on the precise mission or missions we are undertaking. The ship is armed for defence, but also has its' place in StarFleet line of battle, should the necessity arise. Naturally, I am keen to get these people home as soon as possible, and to minimise any disruption to your culture caused by our presence here."

"It's not just their culture you're disrupting, Jean-Luc." The Doctor put in.

"I gathered that as soon as I became aware of your presence here, Doctor. Our sensors detected both your TARDIS and TimeLord life-signs on our first sweep. Naturally, this was flagged up and we have been briefed, but I wanted to assure myself that it was you, rather than the Master.

"But perhaps you can explain what is happening here."

"Despite what people think, I don't know everything." The Doctor grumbled. "Just more than anyone else! The fact is that the _Enterprise_ has been sent not only backwards, but _sideways_ , in time. Back to a history that never existed. A history where humans discovered the Mass Effect from Prothean ruins, rather than Zefrem Cochrane inventing the warp drive."

"Kind of a Schrodinger's Cat thing?" LaForge asked with a frown.

"What's Schrodingers' Cat?" Garrus demanded.

Data answered. "A 20th-Century human scientist named Schrodinger proposed a thought experiment to challenge the prevailing Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. A cat, a flask of poison, and a radioactive source are placed in a sealed box. If an internal monitor detects radioactivity, the flask is shattered, releasing the poison that kills the cat. The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics implies that after a while, the cat is _simultaneously_ alive _and_ dead. When the box is opened, however, the cat is seen to be _either_ alive _or_ dead. The question posed is at what point does quantum superposition end and reality collapse into one possibility or the other?"

"But," Geordi added, "there's another interpretation called 'Many Worlds'. According to that one, if you open the box and find the cat alive, you immediately create an alternate world in which it's dead. The worlds are completely decoherent and unaware of each other, but equally valid."

"I know the theory," Garrus said, waving a hand impatiently, "I was just wondering what a cat was?"

"A small, carnivorous mammal kept as a pet by some humans." Dr Crusher told him, unable to suppress a grin.

"I have one called Spot." Data added.

It was difficult not to laugh. Tali was staring at Data, and Shepard, who was the only one who had seen under her mask, could imagine her expression of near stupefaction.

The Doctor, however, was having none of it. "That's right as far as it goes." He stated. "But, being human, it only goes half-way. A lot of these alternate worlds do exist, that's true. But they aren't equally valid. It's about probability, you see.

"Finding ruins on Mars with the secrets of a technology that allows you to change the mass of objects is a lot less probable than an eccentric drunk with a penchant for loud music building a warp drive behind his shack in the aftermath of a war.

"The future you come from, Picard, is in the main timeline. This one is an offshoot, a might-have-been. It's a lot less real and a lot more fragile, and the longer you stay here, the more fragile it will become. But if it breaks, if the Time-corridor surrounding it fractures and falls away, all the energy contained within it will get loose!"

"And that would be bad?" Miranda guessed.

"Very bad." The Doctor affirmed. "There are races and creatures both inside and outside normal time and space who could find that energy and use it. Some are harmless enough, but the others...! The Daleks, the Reapers, even the TimeLords could make terrible weapons with that energy. It's happened before, during the Time War. That's how the Nightmare Child was born. We even dipped into the alternate histories to create the Could-Have-Been King and his army of Meanwhiles and Never-weres."

"We just stalled an attack by the Reapers." Shepard said. "You mean they aren't just part of this reality?"

"The Reapers aren't a part of any reality." The Doctor said. "They're outside. They can only attack realities whose walls are weak. But with the energy of a whole timeline, they could attack stronger ones, and increase their own power.

"Your Mass Effect technology uses dark energy, and dark energy is part of the complex of forces that sustain the corridors. That creates a fissure the Reapers can exploit, but only after building up a lot of energy themselves."

"That explains the long intervals between Reaper incursions." Shepard said.

"I had suspected something of the kind." Picard noted. "As soon as we detected your presence, Doctor, we guessed that there was more at stake than a simple desire to return home."

"It's not that!" The Doctor snapped. "There's enough brain-power in this room without me to figure that little puzzle out. No, something else is going on. Is Q behind this? Because if he is, he'll regret upsetting me!"

Picards' eyebrows shot up. The Doctors' reputation was considerable, but he had never heard anyone speak so lightly of Q.

"When Q decides to subject us to one of his tests," Data said, "he invariably announces himself. He has not appeared so far, so it is safe to assume he had no part in this."

"Who, or what, is Q?" Samara asked.

"The biggest and most annoying meddler and mischief-maker in all of Time and Space!" The Doctor growled. "Worse than the Vorlons! I've crossed paths with him once or twice. He doesn't like me much."

"I wonder why?" Garrus murmured. "Given your sparkling personality."

The Doctor looked over at the turian, and sighed. "Garrus, I'm thirteen lives in, and I've made a lot of mistakes. I try to help where I can, and it isn't always easy. You'll forgive me if I don't waste time or energy trying to be nice. I'm not nice. I'm the Doctor. The only person who understands that properly is Granny Weatherwax."

Garrus was about to ask who Granny Weatherwax was, when he caught Shepards' eye. He subsided, opening and closing his facial flanges in mild exasperation. The Doctor also turned to Shepard.

"So, has anything else happened around here?" He demanded. "Anything strange, out of the ordinary, weird?"

"Apart from visitors from another reality and a grouch in a blue box?" Shepard asked. "Well, we did get a couple of requests for help."

"Well, why didn't you say so?" The Doctor demanded. "What's happened and where?"

Shepard called in Massani and Grunt to report their findings. The scarred mercenary spoke first.

"I've been looking at the raid on the human colony. It was a non-Alliance one called Rainbow World. Damn silly name, but they had reasons for it. Seems the backers are a charity group promoting species integration. They didn't just invite humans, but anyone who wanted to come. Kind of an experiment to see if we could all live together. Nice idea, but they never got time to see if it worked.

"According to records, half the population were human, but the rest were a mixed bag. Some asari, some volus, a number of salarians, quite a few quarians, but the majority were turians."

"Not surprising." Garrus noted. "The turian government is worried about humanity, but as individuals, our two species get along better than most. We're a lot alike. That's what worries the governments."

"Some quarians like to spend their Pilgrimage planetside." Tali put in. "Partly because they think they'll be living on ships for the rest of their lives, partly because they don't want to lose the skills of living on a planet."

"And the asari like everybody!" Shepard finished, earning a rare amused glance from Samara.

Zaeed shrugged. "Anyway, the attack came out of nowhere. Communications were blanketed, and what defences they had failed to react until they were manually activated. Apparently, the enemy ship didn't show up on sensors, nobody knew it was there until they saw it. It stayed in orbit, but was visible from the ground – we have pictures."

He fiddled with his omni-tool, bringing up a series of images on the table projector. They seemed to be sourced from omni-tool data, and most were blurred and distorted. The clearest showed a view of hills and forest, but the sky above them was almost bisected by a grey, angular shape.

"Best we can figure out from the accounts, the enemy ship was cube-shaped, and the size of a small moon!" Zaeed went on.

Picard and his team exchanged worried glances, then the Captain said. "Can you tell us more, Mr Massani? How did the raid proceed?"

Zaeed shrugged. "Pretty much a walk-over. Raiders just appeared out of nowhere groundside, no landing craft or drop-ships, no gunships or heavy weapons, just infantry. The first wave ignored the colonists, they went after tech. They took the cannons, comms gear, even the main reactor! Weapons and anything that had a mass-effect core. They also took all the Element Zero they could find. They'd pick the stuff up, or a bunch of them would surround anything big, and it and they would just vanish same way they appeared.

"Of course, the colony had a militia, and they got busy, but the raiders just ignored them. They tried everything – incendiaries, cryo ammo, disruptor, shredder, armour-piercing, tech powers and biotics. Thing was, you could only use one weapon or ammunition type once. Kill one, and it would disappear, but after that, all the others were immune to that type of attack or weapon.

"Then the second wave came in, and they went for the colonists. Not to kill, but to capture, and they were very choosy. They ignored children, old people, the sick and the wounded. They only killed the ones who wouldn't stop fighting them. The others they grabbed and injected with something, then disappeared with them. They also didn't bother hunting out ones who hid.

"They got most of the humans and turians who were in good shape, all the asari and about half of the salarians."

"What about my people?" Tali asked anxiously.

"That was one of the weirder things." Zaeed said, in a softer tone than was usual with him. "One of them grabbed a quarian, looked him up and down and said -the only time any of them spoke – 'Too fragile. Unsuitable for assimilation.', and let him go. After that, they only bothered with quarians who tried to fight, and they just killed them, about half a dozen." He looked at Tali. "I don't know whether I'd be relieved or insulted, myself.

"Then the ship just left. The remaining colonists jury-rigged what was left of the comm gear and called for help. The Alliance and the Council sent ships to get them off. They wanted to take them all back to their homes, but apparently they won't be separated. They've got them somewhere safe. They've left the scene just as it was for us to investigate."

"One more question, if you please." Picard said. "Is there a physical description of the raiders?"

Zaeed nodded. "I was getting to that. Colonists said they came from different species – none they recognised except for humans – but they all wore the same black armour, had grey skin and had cybernetics. Not discreet cybernetics, but big, clunky, crude-looking things. Mostly arm extensions and optical replacements."

"It has to be the Borg, Captain!" Geordi said.

"The evidence would suggest that Geordi is correct, Captain." Data confirmed. "Though I would recommend investigation on the ground for full confirmation."

"You know something about this?" Shepard demanded.

"We cannot, of course, be absolutely certain until we have investigated fully. "Picard told him. "But everything we have seen and heard here seems to point to an adversary we have faced several times in our own...reality.

"They call themselves the Borg, and they are not a race or species as such. They term themselves a 'Collective', individuals are known as 'drones'. We know nothing of their origins or original purpose.

"What we do know is that their ships, either cubes or spheres, travel along Trans-Warp Corridors, covering vast distances at high speed. They emerge from time to time to explore an area of space. When they come across a species or a technology they have not encountered before, and which they deem to have value, they _assimilate_ it. By means of advanced nano-technology they can retrofit any new technology to their own systems and rewrite the DNA of any new species into their own, adding any new skills, abilities or traits to the Collective as a whole.

"As a result, they have highly-developed offensive and defensive abilities. Their shields, both ship and personal, can adapt quickly to any attack, and their weaponry adapts equally quickly to overcome any defences. However, their primary aim is not destruction or conquest, but assimilation. They have been known to pass by heavily-populated, scientifically-advanced worlds which offered nothing new, only to assimilate a primitive race for the sake of a unique genetic characteristic. Certain races, however, appear to make better drones than others, and are more frequently taken. Humans are a particular favourite."

"Oh, wonderful!" Shepard said. "Grunt, what do you have? Is it the same?"

The massive krogan managed to make the spacious conference room look crowded just by standing up. He shook his fearsome predators' head. "Not even a little bit." He said. His voice was certainly deep, but not guttural, and his tone was quiet and measured. "We have preliminary sensor readings, for one thing. The ship made a standard approach. It was unknown configuration - saucer-shaped – and not broadcasting. It seems the planetary defence grid got a lock on it straight away. The asari hailed them, asking for identification, and that's when things went dark.

"There was only one more communication after that. This is it."

The image was of an asari. Like all asari, she was strikingly good-looking, but her blue skin was marred with dirt and blood. She looked desperate, scared and hopeless.

"Hello! Hello! Anyone out there? Listen, we're dead, we're all dead! I don't care if you're batarian or vorcha or even bloody geth, but warn someone, warn everyone!" She took a deep breath, and began again, more calmly. "This is Major Kaira T'Sek of the 52nd Asari Commando. I am reporting the total destruction of the Leoraim colony by an unknown force. Their ship crippled our planetary defences and comms net in seconds. They attacked everywhere at once in overwhelming force. They appear to be machines. AIs, but more intelligent than the geth and less vulnerable. Most of our weapons don't seem to touch them. Biotics and tech powers have minimal effect. They're fast, deadly and organised. They're not looting or taking prisoners, just killing everyone. All my troops are dead, all commandos eliminated. This emergency channel is the only one open. If anyone hears this, get the word out, tell the Council, we.."

She broke off, turning and rising so her body blocked the camera. As she did so, a harsh mechanical voice came clearly over the line. One word: "Ex-ter-min-ate!" The holo went blank.

"That's all." Grunt said. "But from what the Major said, it seems like different tactics from the other attack, and a different enemy. That was a raid, by living beings, even if they had cybernetics. This was a ruthless and intentional massacre by some new type of AI."

"Not an AI, and not new." The Doctor said heavily. "Oh, their intelligence is computer-assisted, but there are living minds inside those shells. Living things that hate all other living things. They're the Daleks, and compared to them the Borg are a joke and the Reapers are schoolyard bullies."

"Query." Data said. "Is not the Dalek species extinct? The last record we have of them is over a century old, when a single saucer was destroyed by the combined Romulan and Klingon fleets."

"Not extinct." The Doctor told him. "Though we TimeLords tried our best to do it. Scattered through time, certainly. But they come back. They always come back. They're bred _and_ programmed to survive, you see. At any cost.

"And like the Borg and the _Enterprise_. the Daleks aren't supposed to be here. Every moment they stay weakens this reality further. Somehow, we have to get them back where they belong!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 3: Pooling Resources**

Picard had reported in to his 'Number One', and now returned to the meeting with the air of a man who had made a decision.

"Commander Shepard, I am aware that StarFleet has no legal standing, or even existence, in this reality. However, our aims and directives remain clear, and one of those is to keep the peace and protect civilians.

Now, the experimental TransWarp module that brought us here is currently unsafe to approach – highly unstable and intense chronoton emissions – so we cannot yet investigate the malfunction which brought us here. That being the case, I offer you the services of my ship and crew during the current emergency.

"I dare say I am flying in the face of what the Doctor thinks we ought to do – no doubt stay in deep space and have no interaction with anyone here – but I am not prepared, and neither are my crew, to stand idly by while people are in danger.

"There is also the fact that, if we are indeed facing a Borg incursion, we have more experience than you in dealing with them. Formidable as the _Enterprise_ is, we are no match for a Borg cube, but we do have the technology and knowledge to investigate and shadow them without their notice."

"It seems to me," Grunt commented, "that even if you could go home now, you wouldn't. Not while these Borg might be around, anyway!"

"I will admit, we do have our issues with the Borg, Mr Grunt." Picard allowed. "But even if it were not so, we should feel obliged to at least offer assistance. Commander?"

Shepard grinned. "I've been called proud, even arrogant, a loner who likes to do things his own way and to Hell with the rules..."

"...and that's by the people who like you." Miranda murmured.

Shepards' grin broadened. "But I'm not too proud to accept help when it's offered, Captain Picard. That human colony is outside Alliance space, so their military can't legitimately go there except for humanitarian aid. But I'm a Corsair, I can go where I like, and if you're working with me, you're a Corsair too."

"Stretching a point there!" Tali noted.

"So what else is new?" Garrus asked.

"Then if you would upload the coordinates of the colony to the _Enterprise_ , I suggest that we go and investigate that incident while you look into the other matter." Picard stated.

"Makes sense." Shepard replied. "You'll need the access codes to the relays."

Picard shook his head. "Our warp drive works on entirely different principles from your mass-effect. We couldn't use your relays even if we needed to."

"I hate to strike a sour note, Commander," Miranda broke in, "but aren't we being a little too trusting?"

"What do you suggest, Ms Lawson?" Picard asked.

"An exchange of hostages?" Shepard asked. "One of my officers goes with you, one of yours comes with us?"

"Agreed." Picard said.

"That OK with you Miranda?" Shepard enquired. She nodded, and he said. "Good. Because you're the one that's going with the _Enterprise_. Go get your gear."

"Me and my big mouth!" Miranda said as she got up. "I'll be back in a few minutes, Captain Picard."

"Commander Data," said Picard, after he had acknowledged Miranda, "would you be prepared to stay aboard the _Normandy_?"

"I am not the obvious candidate." The android observed. "The local attitude to AIs would indicate that I would not be considered sufficiently valuable as a hostage."

"We're not actually talking about hostages, here, Commander Data." This was Tali. "More of an officer exchange. Anyway, if my readings are correct, your scrap value is greater than that of the entire _Normandy!"_

"Thank you, Miss vas Normandy." Data replied.

"Sarcasm, Data?" Geordi asked. "Isn't that the lowest form of wit?"

"I am still learning." Data replied.

It was too much for Tali, who collapsed in giggles. Picard said to Shepard. "Commander Datas' positronic brain is capable of storing immense amounts of information. He is also directly linked to the _Enterprise_ database, which contains all Federation knowledge. Before we leave, he can download all the information we have pertaining to the Daleks, and for that matter, the Doctor, as the two are inextricably linked in our history. You may find it useful."

"Might save me having to explain _everything_ , for once!" The Doctor said.

"Shepard." Samara said. "I know I pledged myself to your service, but I feel I must also travel with Captain Picard. Do you permit this?"

"Samara, I've never considered you a subordinate." Shepard said. "Your pledge to me was until the Collector threat was ended, and it is. You're a Justicar, and have the right to go where you want."

"Thank you, Shepard." She replied. "Captain Picard?"

"You are, of course, welcome, Justicar." Picard said. "Do you require further surety from us, Commander?"

Shepard shook his head. "Samara is a friend, but she is not a crew member. A Justicar, like a Spectre, can go where they feel they are needed. Besides, this ship isn't as big as yours, and we're already crowded.

"But I will be very annoyed if any harm comes to Samara while she is with you."

"Understood." Picard said. "Do you need to bring anything, Justicar?"

It was only a little while later when both Miranda and Samara returned to the conference room, both carrying what little luggage they required. Shepard had been talking - exchanging tall tales, really – with Picard. LaForge and Dr Crusher had been speaking with the Doctor, Data was sitting quietly, having said that he was accessing the information he would need from the _Enterprise_ , while Tali was covertly studying the android. Massani had wandered off, saying something about developing special tactics. Worf had been talking with Grunt and Garrus. Shepard heard the end of that conversation.

"Commander Data is a colleague, a comrade and a friend." Worf was saying. "Should any harm come to him while on this ship, I will be... _irritated_."

"Got it!" Grunt replied. "I'll be pissed off if anything happens to Miranda or Samara."

"Then we understand each other, gentlemen." Worf concluded.

"Are we all ready?" Picard asked. "Very well, let us proceed. Picard to _Enterprise_ , six to beam aboard. Good luck and Godspeed, Commander Shepard. Energise."

The shimmering effect of the Transporter device was disorienting. The familiar conference room around Miranda faded away, and for a moment she was alone in a sparkling nothingness. Then a completely different room solidified around her. She felt slightly dizzy and a little nauseous. Incautiously, she tried to step forward and stumbled.

In front of her, Picard shot out an arm to prevent a fall. It was like coming up against an iron bar. Then Crusher had her elbow. "Dammit, Jean-Luc, we should've warned them!"

"Of course." He replied. "My apologies, Ms Lawson. The first trip by Transporter can be disturbing. Do you need a moment?"

"I'll be fine." Miranda said. "That was just...weird!"

"Our fault." Crusher told her. "We jump on and off this thing all the time. Never occurs to us that other people aren't used to it. This was your first time, so you may have lost some fluid. You'll need a drink. Oh, thanks, Miles!"

Miranda realised that a stocky, square-faced man in black and yellow was proffering a glass of water. She accepted it with a grateful nod. It was cold, and cleared her head at once.

"Drink all of it, mind." He told her in a pleasant Irish brogue. "You'll be right as rain in a minute."

"Justicar, are you well?" Picard asked.

"Indeed, Captain." Samara replied. "My metabolic and neurological makeup is different from a humans. The experience was unique, but not unpleasant."

"Excellent." Picard turned to the stocky man. "Chief O'Brien, can you see to it that our guests' luggage is sent to their assigned cabins? Thank you.

"Beverley, Geordi, you should get back to your posts. Ladies, if you will follow Mr Worf and I to the bridge?"

As they walked, Samara was looking about her with keen curiosity. Miranda, however, had other concerns. As a genetically-enhanced nonborn, she had always been superior to the other humans around her. She was stronger, faster, generally smarter and would live longer. But when she had stumbled just now, she had discovered something that both disturbed and excited her. Picard was not a young man, for instance, but he had reacted to her plight as quickly, perhaps a shade more so, than she could have done, and the strength of his arm had been shocking. Equally, the grip Crusher had placed on her elbow, though gentle, had been as strong as any Miranda herself could have applied.

 _Are these people genetically-enhanced?_ She wondered. Then shook her head. Of course they were. They were from the 24th Century. Enhanced by two hundred years of scientific, medical and educational advances, as well as good, old-fashioned, evolution. Ruefully, Miranda Lawson realised that aboard this ship, she was just an ordinary person. She wondered if Shepard had realised that when he chose her for this mission. Knowing the Commander, he probably had!

By this time, they had reached the bridge. This, Miranda saw, was more like the _Normandys'_ CIC than the cubby-hole from which Joker flew the ship. The elevator let onto a raised section, at the front of which was a curved control panel at which Worf now took station, relieving a human officer. In front of and below that section was an arrangement of seats, the central one of which was clearly the command chair. Beyond that was another control desk with two officers seated at it. The focus of the room was the large viewscreen on the front wall, currently showing a view of the _Normandy_. There were other work-stations around the room. She noted that this ship used touch-screens rather than the holographic interfaces she was accustomed to.

Then for a while she lost interest in her surroundings as Picard introduced her to the tall, broad-shouldered man who had risen from the command chair.

"Miss Lawson, this is my First Officer, Commander William Riker. Number One, this is Miranda Lawson, XO of the _Normandy_."

"Welcome aboard the _Enterprise_ , Miss Lawson. A pleasure to meet you." The hand proffered was easily twice the size of hers, and though Miranda was a tall woman, she had to cock her head to meet a pair of warm blue eyes and an easy, unforced smile in a ruggedly handsome, bearded face.

"Miranda, please." She replied, drinking him in in gulps. "And the pleasure is all mine!"

"Will." He responded, the twinkle in his eyes and slight broadening of his grin indicating that her interest had been noted and was not unwelcome.

Picard cleared his throat and Miranda pulled herself together in time to be introduced to a dark, sensually lovely woman with direct black eyes and a mischievous smile. "Ships' Counsellor, Deanna Troi."

"Welcome aboard, Miranda." Troi said in a low-pitched voice with a trace of exotic accent. "I'm sure you'll find a lot to interest you here.." she glanced over Mirandas' shoulder at Riker, "...and if there are things you want to know that are non-technical - social customs, etiquette and so on – I'll be more than happy to help."

 _This one is a little bit too perceptive, and not quite human._ Miranda noted to herself. _Are her people the local equivalent of asari?_

Miranda was offered a seat between Picard and Troi. Picard himself settled into the command chair and said. "Mr Worf, hail the _Normandy._ "

"On screen, Captain." Worf replied.

By the look of things, Shepard was alone in the conference room. "Commander," Picard said. "we are about to take our leave. We will be moving the _Enterprise_ some five hundred kilometres clear of the _Normandy_ under impulse drive. We have no way of knowing how our warp field would interact with your mass-effect core, and I would rather not take any risks."

"Understood and thank you." Shepard replied. "Be careful out there, Jean-Luc."

"I would make the same recommendation, Adam, except that I doubt being careful is in your nature! Good luck. Picard out.

"Mr Crusher, thirty degrees to port, ahead two thirds impulse."

"Aye, sir." The boy – he was a teenager – at the helm clearly shared more than a surname with the ships' doctor.

"Mr Horek," Picard asked, "can we translate the coordinates Mr Moreau sent us?"

The man at Ops swung round in his seat, a rangy fellow with a thin,harsh-planed face, sleek black hair, a greenish cast to his skin and pointed ears.

"Affirmative, Captain." He reported in an inflectionless voice. "Astrometrics were able to superimpose Mr Moreaus' charts onto historical ones of our own. The colony known here as Rainbow World corresponds to a class M world designated Theta Hydra 2.

"Mr Crusher has laid in a course. At Warp Seven, our ETA is two days, five hours, seven minutes and fifteen seconds, approximately."

"I see why Data chose you as Acting Ops Officer." Troi murmured. "A man after his own heart."

"Two days?" Miranda said, astonished. "Rainbow World is in the Confucius Cluster! That's a four-day run in the _Normandy_!"

"Two hundred years makes a difference." Picard noted.

"Captain, we are now safe to go to warp at your command." Crusher reported.

Picard leaned forward in his seat and pointed forward. "Engage!" He said.

For a moment, the omnipresent hum of a ship in space rose In pitch, then settled again. There had been no physical sense of acceleration, but the stars in the viewscreen were now streaks of light rather than points. Miranda realised that, without apparent exertion, they had just left light in the starting blocks.

"Wow!" She said. "This is some ship!"

"We like her." Riker remarked.

Crushers' voice emerged from a speaker near Picard. "Sickbay to bridge. Jean-Luc, can you ask Justicar Samara to join me here? Nothing sinister, just a routine new species interview to make sure we're doing everything we can to make her comfortable."

"Are you willing to undertake that, Justicar?" Picard asked.

"Of course, Captain." Samara said. "I was surprised not to be placed in quarantine as soon as I came aboard, in fact."

"The concept of quarantine is almost obsolete." Riker told her. "The Transporter would have scanned your pattern in the buffer and removed any potentially harmful organisms."

"I see." Samara nodded. "Well, in that case, all I need is someone to guide me to your Medical Centre. I am afraid this vessel is quite bewilderingly large, even by asari standards."

"Of course." Picard said. "Mr Worf, please provide an escort for the Justicar.

"Miss Lawson, there are matters we should discuss, please join me in my Ready Room. You have the bridge, Number One."

The Ready Room was a compact but comfortable mixture of office and sitting room, rather larger than Mirandas' own office on the _Normandy_. One wall was dominated by a dramatic portrait -done in acrylics, if she was any judge – of the _Enterprise_. A tank in one corner held a lionfish. There were one or two items carefully placed around, apparently archaeological finds of some kind. There was also a small bookshelf, holding actual, old-fashioned, paper books. Miranda scanned the titles.

"I see our two histories have some things in common." She remarked. "These are classics in our universe as well."

"Indeed?" Picard commented. "It would be difficult to imagine the human race without Shakespeare, Dickens and Pratchett." He moved over to a recess in the far wall. "Would you care for something to drink, Miss Lawson?"

"What do you have?" She asked.

"What would you like?" He asked. "Since we were served coffee aboard your ship, I imagine the replicator can provide something to your taste."

She shrugged, and went for broke. "Skinny caramel latte?" It was a favourite of hers, and though he did his best, Mess Sergeant Gardner could never get it quite right. "One-and-a-half sugars?"

"Computer, one skinny caramel latte, plus fifty percent sweet." Picard requested. There was a shimmer in the recess that solidified into a steaming cup. Picard lifted it out and handed it to her, before turning back and ordering "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."

The coffee was one of the best Miranda had ever tasted. "Wow!" She said. "How do you do that?"

Picard shrugged. "I'm sure Mr Laforge or Lt Barclay can explain our Replicator technology more clearly than I. Besides, I have other questions to ask.

"This colony we are bound for. I understand it to be primarily a human one, but outside the jurisdiction of both your Council and Alliance. I need a better understanding of the politics involved. I don't want to find myself being chased across the Galaxy by the local equivalent of StarFleet."

"I can understand that." Miranda replied. "Well, when humans discovered the mass-effect and started to spread across the Galaxy, it became obvious that we needed to stick together. But at the same time, nobody wanted a single human government. So the Alliance was formed by the eighteen most powerful nations of Earth. They established a parliamentary body and pooled their military resources in order to protect human colonies and control expansion.

"By that time, we'd encountered aliens. There was a short war – the First Contact War – with the tuians. They thought we'd be a pushover, we weren't, and things looked like escalating. That's when the Citadel Council stepped in. The Citadel itself is a huge Prothean construct in the Serpent Nebula. It's the hub of the Mass Relay system,among other things. Centuries ago, the asari and salarians decided to set up a Council there to act as a governing body for their spheres of influence. They invited other races to set up embassies at the Citadel and become associate members, bound to follow Council rules in return for assistance and protection. After the Krogan Rebellions, the turians were invited onto the Council.

"After the Council made peace between the turians and humanity, the Alliance was granted an Embassy on the Citadel. Cerberus – the organisation I used to work for – believed that it was more about keeping humans in check than helping. You see, unlike the other races, humans are generalists, good at almost anything we set out to do. Our cultural and social developments are almost as high as the asari, and our technological and scientific advancements match the salarians. More importantly, our military skills and forces are as good as the turians'. We worried them.

"Then, of course, Eden Prime was attacked by the geth. The original _Normandy_ responded, and Commander Shepard initiated the series of events that ultimately led to the defeat of Sovereign and the geth, and gained humanity a seat on the Council. So now, Alliance space is also Council space, though the Council doesn't meddle with internal government.

"But, humans being humans, there are always some people who aren't happy with the status quo. Some people think the Alliance is a military dictatorship, some are outright xenophobic and want nothing to do with aliens. Others just want somewhere that's not crowded, where they can follow their own traditional or religious lifestyles. What they tend to do is pay independent spacers to take them to worlds outside Alliance and Council space, where they can do as they please.

"It's awkward sometimes, because the Alliance wants to respect these peoples' wishes -if only because they don't want potential troublemakers in Alliance space. But on the other hand, the Council holds the Alliance responsible for anything that happens on those worlds. At the moment, though, that's good for us, as nobody from the Alliance or the Council will be anywhere near Rainbow World. Fortunate, because this ship of yours would raise more than a few eyebrows!"

Picard smiled. "I'm sure she would! The _Enterprise_ is the pride of StarFleet, she raises eyebrows even at home.

"But now you have answered my questions, is there anything you wish to ask me?"

She nodded. "I'm sure your library computers can tell me anything within reason about StarFleet and your Federation, but I do want to ask you about these Borg. What are we facing here?"

Picard frowned. "This is a unique situation. Consider, we here on the _Enterprise_ are cut off from StarFleet Command and the Federation. But, this ship can sustain itself and everyone aboard without visiting a planet for almost twenty years in comfort -it is designed for deep-space exploration. Also, myself and my crew have the ability to make decisions on what we do, how we react to the situation. There are certain directives and a common ethical perspective we act within, but that still leaves us a good deal of freedom.

"Now a Borg ship and crew have only one purpose – to seek out new species and new technology, and assimilate anything of value into their Collective. But this cube is cut off from the larger Collective. More than that, our scans indicate that there are no TransWarp corridors in this universe.

"It is possible to travel at TransWarp velocity outside one of these corridors, but it is a high-risk action. The fields are notoriously unstable, and the larger they are, the greater the problem. Also, the TransWarp coils needed to generate the field have a short life-span in normal space, they burn out rapidly and would be difficult to replace – the raw materials are rare in our universe, and even if they exist here, it is unlikely that they are mined or used to any great extent. The Borg would need to seek them out, extract and process them themselves.

"This means that the cube will likely be restricted to normal warp speed, making it little or no faster than this ship.

"Over and above that, there is the matter of disconnection from the Collective. The Borg are a hive mind. The individual drones, the equipment they use, the ship itself, are all part of the same organism. What we have here is, in effect, a single cell or organ separated from a larger body. As far as we understand the matter a Borg ship is tasked by the Collective with a specific function, and supplied with the knowledge, skills and equipment to perform that function. Should the situation change, data is uploaded via TransWarp channels to the Collective, and the necessary adaptations are downloaded.

"That cannot happen here, so we have no way of knowing what they might do. The evidence seems to indicate that they are following their primary programming, to seek out and assimilate new species and technologies. That said, the attack on this colony might simply have been an attempt to gather data.

"The best case scenario is that the cube might go into a dormant state. If so, after a certain time, a self-destruct mechanism will activate and the problem will solve itself. In the worst case, the cube will follow primary programming and continue assimilation of anything it considers useful.

"Miss Lawson, if what you have told me is correct, the most unique and advanced artefact in this universe is the Citadel!"

"Oh, Hell!" Miranda said. "You think these Borg could do that? Take down the Citadel?"

Picards' face was grim. "A single cube destroyed an entire StarFleet flotilla at Wolf 359." He told her. "So yes, it is entirely possible."

"So what can we do?" She asked.

"Our first order of business," he told her, "will be to confirm that this actually is the Borg. After that, well, we have some strategies open to us. We can modify the ships' emissions to produce a sensor profile the Borg will find neither interesting nor threatening. It's been our experience that such things are ignored by them. Then we may be able to infiltrate an Away Team onto the cube. Again, the Borg tend to ignore individuals or groups who present no immediate threat, unless ordered to do otherwise. Once aboard, it should be possible to infect their systems with a computer virus that would force them to shut down, at least temporarily. The Collective adapts to such things quickly, but an individual cube may not be so effective.

"For now, however, I suggest you familiarise yourself with this ship, Miss Lawson. Get some rest and a meal, get to know some people. I'm sure my First Officer will be happy to show you around.

"It may also interest you to know that StarFleet regulations do not forbid or restrict fraternisation. Of any kind."

Miranda Lawson was not a woman who blushed easily. Most of the time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 4: Collecting Data on Data**

"I presume," Data said without looking up from the Engineering console he was studying, "that the holographic interface on your arm equates to what we would call a tricorder?"

Tali jumped, letting out an "Oh!" of surprise. Data turned to face her.

"I am a unique individual, even in my own reality, so I am accustomed to curiosity and to being studied. However, my studies of the behaviour of intelligent races indicates that in most cases, the simplest and most courteous way to find things out is to ask."

"How did you know I was here?" Tali asked. "You seemed to be concentrating so hard, and I am very soft-footed."

"I have the mental capacity to concentrate on several things at once." Data told her. "At the time I was examining the nature of this ships' kinetic shields, reviewing known Dalek tactics with a view to finding a weakness, and also remaining aware of my environment.

"I have superior hearing, so I detected your footfalls. Also your environmental suit makes a number of characteristic sounds -a human could not hear them, but they are clear to me – as does your Omni-tool device. I am curious as to why you feel it is necessary to study me covertly. I am here, you could simply ask."

Quarians are a direct people. Spending your life behind a mask leaves little opportunity for subtlety, as does the forced intimacy of a life spent on ships. Tali was direct.

"You're an AI." She said. "How am I supposed to trust anything you tell me? My people have history with AIs."

"What is that history?" Data wanted to know. "My studies so far have been confined to technical ones. I have not had time to explore your historical, literary and cultural databases."

Tali shook her head. "You won't find any. This is a military ship, Commander Data. We don't carry anything we don't need. Just a selection of entertainment vids, some music and online novels and magazines. Mostly human-oriented.

"As to my people, some centuries ago, we created an AI race, the geth, as servants and protectors. But they became too intelligent, too numerous. My people got scared and tried to shut them down. The geth rebelled and drove us from our homeworld. Since then, we've lived on the Migrant Fleet and been at war, on and off, with the geth.

"Now I know, when I say it out loud, that it makes my people sound bad. Recently, I've been given a lot of reason to agree with that, as do some of our people back on the Fleet. But I was brought up to hate and fear AIs, and it's hard to overcome a lifetimes' training.

"What's worse is that, when I talk to you, I find myself reacting as I would to a living being. Then I feel like I've been fooled."

Data nodded. "Your feelings are not an uncommon reaction to me. I think it was one of the things Dr Soong was interested in."

"Dr Soong?" Tali asked.

"My creator." Data told her. "My father."

"Why did he build you?" Tali asked.

"I do not believe there was a single reason." Data said. "He and his wife were unable to have children, for instance, but I lack the emotional intelligence to tell if that was a factor. Certainly, he wished to put his theories regarding the creation of artificial intelligence to the test. To design a working positronic neural net. He wanted to place it in an artificial but humanlike body to study how others would react. Also to see if I could learn to become more human.

"I think there were many reasons, many things he was curious about. I was one way of answering these questions. But he was also prepared to let me go, to find my own path. I chose StarFleet, and I have been accepted by my shipmates as one of them."

"Keelah!" Tali exclaimed. "What kind of person..? Data, you are more sophisticated, technologically, than anything I have ever seen. Your brain is a marvel, I can't even begin to grasp its complexity! Most people would hang on to an asset like that, or try to make all the credits they could out of it. But your, your _father_ , just let you go! And you, you chose service. There are few enough real people who would do that. You put me to shame!"

"That was not my intention." Data said. "The history of your people is quite sufficient to explain your suspicions of me. But is there anything else you wish to know?"

"A silly question really." Tali said. "Why do you wear clothes? The geth don't, and my scans indicate you don't need them. Does your captain insist you wear uniform?"

"I expect that Captain Picard would require me to wear uniform on duty, should the question arise." Data responded. "But I always wear clothing. When I was first activated, I did not see the need – you are correct in assuming that external temperatures do not affect me. My father was forced to write a modesty subroutine into my base programming so that I did not disturb the other colonists."

"Disturb?" Tali asked.

"My physiological design is based upon the human male, and is fully anatomically correct." Data told her. "My nakedness caused embarrassment, and there were children in the colony."

Tali couldn't help herself, she burst out laughing. For a moment she was helpless, a state not improved by Datas' look of mild puzzlement.

"Oh, Keelah!" She was finally able to gasp. "I am sorry, Data! It's just..." She almost lost it again. "I'm sorry, I have to...We'll talk later, yes?"

She retired in shaken order, leaving Data looking after her. He wondered why a simple statement of fact should cause such a reaction. But he had discovered that different things made different people laugh. He turned toward the other source of laughter.

"Was there anything you required, Miss...?" He asked.

"Jack." She told him. "Just Jack."

Data noted that the shaven head accentuated her chiselled features, whilst heavy makeup rendered her dark, intense eyes even more vivid. She wore minimal clothing above the waist, probably to display the beautiful tattoo work that covered much of her skin. She came very close.

"So," she said, "you actually have all the man parts, right?"

"Correct." Data replied.

"Tell me," she went on, "do they actually...?"

"I am fully functional." He informed her. "Programmed in multiple techniques of pleasuring."

"Is that so?" Jack took his hand. "C'mon. I've got some scientific curiosity to satisfy. And it better _be_ satisfactory!"

It was some hours later that Commander Shepard called his team together. Meetings this large were rare aboard the _Normandy_. Normally, only Shepard himself, Jacob, Miranda, Garrus, Tali and Samara attended all the meetings. Mordin came about half the time – if there was a scientific matter to discuss – the others only turned up if specifically asked. Except Jack, who generally refused to attend at all, and had to be approached individually where she lurked on the lower decks.

This time, however, Jack turned up alongside Data, with whom she seemed very comfortable. That was a pleasant change, Shepard reflected, Jack was not on easy terms with many people. There was the usual settling and bustling, including the grumble as Grunt squeezed his massive bulk into a chair.

"Right!" Shepard said. "I'd hoped for a bit more quiet time, but it looks like we're in the thick of things again, people. What's the status of the ship?"

"We took a beating on the other side of the Omega 4 Relay." Tali said. "But the new armour and multicore shielding held up better than we hoped. The engines are back up to speed as well. All in all, we're in pretty good shape as far as that goes. How are the weapons, Garrus?"

The rangy turian shrugged. "We gave the new main guns a good workout back there, and they did the job. I had some recalibration to do, and the mounts needed reinforcing, but they're all good now. If anyones' interested, the Hammerhead didn't even get a scratch. I'm in the middle of upgrading its armour and weapons."

"All good." Shepard noted. "Kelly -Yeoman Chambers – tells me that crew morale is pretty high right now. Of course, if these Daleks are as bad as they seem, that might change!"

"Speaking of that," Jacob said, "what do we know about the Daleks? How bad is it gonna get?"

"You start off," the Doctor told Data, "then I'll put in the bits you left out and put right the bits you got wrong."

"Very well." Data replied. "I uploaded some of the data from my PADD to your systems, Commander. EDI, if you would?"

The image that appeared in the middle of the table was, at first glance, almost comical. Even with the human silhouette next to it to provide scale, it still resembled nothing more than a giant pepper-pot. There were additions, of course. A lens-capped eye-stalk at the top, and two more rods projecting from the mid-section.

But the longer you looked at it, the less you were inclined to smile. Everyone here was a soldier, or a scientist, or dealt in some way with technology, violence, or both. After the initial surprise, Shepard could sense the reassessments taking place, the realisation of what they were actually looking at.

"Form follows function." Mordin commented. "Nothing unnecessary, nothing wasted. Quaroid form of geth typical of sentient habits. Humans call it anthropomorphism. This is not. Pure efficiency. An AI?"

"Daleks are not an artificial intelligence." Data said. "What you see is a combination of environment suit and combat vehicle. There is an organic being -some kind of mutant – inside the casing.

"The casing itself is composed of three layers: bonded polycarbide, high-impact ceramic and an unknown alloy of extreme strength."

"Dalekanium." The Doctor said. "The rare ore that makes it unique is only found on a few planets, Skaro being one of the richest in it. Fortunately, the Daleks never managed to synthesise adamantium, or I wouldn't be here."

"Thank you, Doctor." Data said. "To continue, the Dalek suit is equipped with a sophisticated anti-gravity generator, allowing it to fly considerable distances. It is protected by a force field – usually a thermal shield designed to melt projectiles. However, experience has shown that this can be modulated across the electromagnetic spectrum to defend against almost anything.

"The two projections in the middle are the handling tool and the weapon. The handling tool is modular, and can be changed to fit whatever task is being undertaken. The weapon usually fires plasma bolts, but like the shielding, it can be remodulated to fire electricity, lasers, phased plasma beams or gamma radiation. It is also modular, and can be replaced with a projectile weapon if necessary.

"The suit is fully self-contained, has considerable reserves of power, and can function in almost any environment, including outer space.

"Whenever and wherever Daleks have been encountered, they have shown nothing but unrelenting hostility toward all other life-forms. They seek the extinction of all life except themselves. We do not know why."

"Racism." The Doctor said. "Plain and simple. The creatures inside those suits are bred to believe that they are the only species fit to survive. Everything, everyone, else is a mistake of nature, vermin to be exterminated. They got so dangerous that in the end my people, the TimeLords, had to intervene. That led to the Time War, a war of attrition that spread across all of time and space. It got so bad that I had to Time-Lock it, seal as much of it as I could outside time and space. Basically remove it and its effects from history. I did the best I could, but there are still cracks, leaks and ripples. An event that big can never be completely un-happened."

"So, how do we beat them?" Grunt asked.

"You don't." The Doctor said. "If you're clever, you run and hide, and if you're lucky, you'll survive a few years more until they come and find you. That's what the Q did. It's what the Vorlons were preparing to do just before we got involved.

"The Daleks are smarter than you, they outgun you, and they don't stop, ever. If you insist on fighting them, then you need to capitalise on their arrogance, their hatred, their emotionalism. Daleks run on emotion, on hatred, fear, anger. It makes them powerful, but it also makes them reckless.

"Beyond a certain point, those emotions take over. They abandon plans and strategy and just attack. That's when they're most dangerous and most vulnerable."

"Can't we do better than that?" Shepard asked. "They don't belong in this universe, you said that. There might be something here they can't handle."

The Doctor shook his head. "I doubt it. Not unless you've got some Adeptus Astartes hidden away on this ship. A full company of Blood Angels or Ultramarines would be a match for one Dalek saucer. Just.

"As it is you only have two things. One is your biotic and tech abilities. They're based around Dark Energy, which the Daleks don't have much experience with. It won't take them long to adapt, mind, but used with care, those abilities could do a lot of damage."

"I don't understand." Tali said. "Dark Energy is everywhere, we use it in most of our tech. Is there none in your universe?"

"It exists." Data said. "But it is very rare, and has been deemed uneconomical to use."

"It's one of the cats that Schrodinger was talking about." The Doctor stated. "In our universe, it was dead when the box was opened, in yours, it was alive.

"Dark Energy can't be generated without Element Zero, which doesn't exist in our universe. Most of the naturally-occurring Dark Energy there is stored in artefacts."

"You are referring to the Tesseract?" Data asked. "That is still in Asgard, which has been out of phase with Earth for over two centuries."

"The Tesseract, the Black Swords, the Black Jewel, the Runestaff, the Elder Wand, the One Ring, a few others, but yes, the Tesseract is the best known." The Doctor allowed.

Data frowned. "The One Ring? Academics on Earth are still debating the historicity of the Red Book of Westmarch. The other items I have not heard of."

"It was real." The Doctor growled. "I should know, I was there when Isildur took it from Sauron, and I wasn't far away when that brave Hobbit tossed it into the Fire. I told Gandalf he'd do it, but the silly young fool never believed me until it happened. It was a fixed point."

"OK, focus!" Shepard said. "What's the other thing we have?"

"Me." Said the Doctor. "All those titles your Justicar reeled off? One of them – the Oncoming Storm -is a title the Daleks gave me. I'm probably the only being in any universe they're really scared of. Which means that if they know I'm here, they'll come after this ship with a vengeance!

"I've beaten them more times than I like to remember, but they always come back. Sometimes, they beat me, but I'm still here. We're almost old friends."

"Whatever, they can still be beaten, anything can." Grunt said.

"It'd take special tactics." Massani said. "You'd need a Tech to overload their shields, and heavy weapons or high-level biotics to take out the armour. Team job, and that's just to take out one of them!"

"If the shields were down," Thane noted, "it would not be difficult for a trained sniper to damage the eye-piece. I could do it, so could Zaeed or Garrus. How effective would that be?"

"They're mostly sight-oriented." The Doctor said. "If they lose visual input, they start to panic, fire at random. Just so you know, the dome on the top and the ring the gun is on can both rotate through 360 degrees. They can look, and fire, in any direction."

"Get me or Tali into their computer systems, and they'd be in trouble!" Kasumi stated. "What's their power source?"

"I told you, emotion." The Doctor replied. "The angrier, or more scared, they get, the more power they build up."

"Interesting." Mordin said. "Some kind of tranquilliser? Would have to know metabolism. Also, suit is sealed, would need way to get past. Hmm. Still have data on Collector Seeker swarms. Could modify. Maybe nanotech?"

"I have information taken from autopsies on the Dalek mutants." Data informed him. "I also have some knowledge of nanotechnology. Perhaps I could assist?"

"Thank you, yes." Mordin replied. "Be nice to work with someone who thinks as fast as I do."

Grunt had been studying the hologram. "These things don't look as if they'd be much use up close." He said.

"They're not designed for close combat." The Doctor allowed. "Daleks don't – can't – fight hand to hand. But you'd have to be really strong to make a dent in that armour with your hands, or have something very hard and sharp to cut it."

"Huh!" Grunt peered at the image again. "How dangerous is the thing inside the suit?"

"You mean physically?" The Doctor asked. "Not very. It's mostly brain and eye and it can't move by itself. It does have tentacles, and if you get within reach it will try to strangle you. It might succeed with a human, but not with a krogan.

"Of course, you'd have to get the suit open, first."

"Shepard and I pack some pretty serious biotics." Jack spoke up. "Would they work?"

"Up to a point." The Doctor allowed. "You might be able to throw them around a bit, make them easier targets for any heavy weapons you have. But unless their shields are down, you won't be able to Warp them."

"So it looks like we can take individual Daleks, but that it would need several of us to get just one!" Shepard summed up. "We need to do better than that.

"Mordin, get onto that tranquilliser, it's the best hope we have of dealing with large numbers at once. If we can force them to power down, we stand a chance. The rest of you, start thinking about what we've learned. There may be other tactics we can use.

"Commander Data, would you mind staying here for a moment? I need to talk with you in confidence."

The meeting broke up. Shepard studied the android for a moment. Observed closely, he wasn't really all that human. Apart from the unnatural colour of his skin and eyes, there were the odd, random, birdlike movements of the head. Then there was the voice, a pleasant enough tenor, but always even, rarely inflected, and the precise mode of speech, without the usual contractions. But still, what Tali had said was right, you couldn't react to him as if he was a machine.

"So, Commander," Shepard said, "you've made quite an impression on my Chief Engineer!"

"Miss vas Normandy is a highly intelligent person." Data noted. "I am also impressed by her ability to overcome generations of prejudice and interact with me on an equal basis."

"Tali is a special person." Shepard agreed.

"You are together." Data said. It was not a question.

"So you're intuitive, as well?" Shepard asked.

Data shrugged, a very human gesture. "I do not understand what is called 'intuition'. My thought processes are based on logic. However, since I live and work among people who experience emotion, I have found it useful to study the ways in which it is expressed. The body language and non-verbal signals between yourself and Miss vas Normandy indicate a more than ordinary degree of intimacy.

"But I do not think that you asked me to stay to discuss these matters, Commander."

"No." Shepard grinned. "It wouldn't be logical, would it?

"I understand that as well as information about the Daleks, you also have some on the Doctor. Now all I have is a very old Alliance regulation called the 'Bad Wolf Protocol'. That protocol, on an Alliance ship, would effectively put the Doctor in command.

"I contacted a friend of mine, an information broker, to see if she had anything more. According to Liara, her people, the asari, have encountered the Doctor on several occasions and have collected some information about him by other means. But to be honest, some of it is legend and the rest sounds like tall tales.

"I wondered if you had anything more concrete?"

Data nodded. "There is a good deal of information, but much of it is fragmentary and of dubious provenance. But there is a common theme. It seems that, in times of crisis, a figure sometimes appears, calling himself the Doctor, who offers advice and assistance. He is depicted as being highly intelligent, with vast scientific and historical knowledge. Descriptions of his physical appearance are varied, with at least twelve, possibly thirteen, different ones being given. There are also rare occasions upon which more than one of these avatars or manifestations have appeared at the same time. Accounts of his personality also vary, though all agree on some traits. He is always described as being concerned with the preservation of life, the avoidance of violence, the freedom of individuals and species, and the humane resolution of issues wherever possible.

"Fragmentary records go back as far as Ancient Egypt and Rome. The Doctor is mentioned on an Aztec stele of verifiable authenticity. There are also letters from the English Queen Elizabeth the First, detailing a complex relationship between her and the Doctor. There are also official documents from the Victorian era which mention the Doctor in connection with the foundation of the Torchwood Institute.

"There is a period, ranging from the mid-20th Century to the early 21st, in which records become more coherent. Some official papers from the Second World War for instance, reference the Doctor as a key advisor to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Later, he appears as an operative – Special Scientific Advisor – of the UNIT organisation. He is also mentioned as a person of interest to Torchwood."

"I never heard of either UNIT or Torchwood." Shepard said. "Even during N7 training."

"They may not have existed in this reality." Data allowed. "We do know, from other sources, that the race known as TimeLords did exist, and may still do so. We also believe that the conflict known as the Time War did actually happen. Not only has the Doctor spoken of it, but there are recordings of Daleks referring to it. Also, there are historical... _anomalies_...in the records of several civilisations. Parts of the past which seem to have simply disappeared, even within living memory. Physical evidence of conflict where none has been known to occur.

"I am also authorised by Captain Picard to inform you – in strictest confidence – that sealed StarFleet records exist of the Doctor encountering both the NX-01 _Enterprise_ and the _Constitution_ -class vessel _USS Enterprise._ No more details are available to me of those encounters _._ "

"Fair enough." Shepard acknowledged. "So, what's your judgement, Data? Can we trust him?"

Data shrugged again. "I do not have what you would call 'gut feelings' about such things, Commander. The evidence indicates strongly that the Doctor has a high regard for humanity as a species. It also indicates that he tends toward the weaker side in any conflict. However, since we appear to be confronting the Daleks, his oldest enemy and a species sworn to kill him above all others, it will be in his best interests to assist us in any way he can.

"Be warned, however, the Doctor is not predictable or in any way controllable, and the full extent of his abilities has never been measured.

"Now, if that is all you require, Commander, I promised to assist Professor Solus?"

A sobered Shepard nodded. "Certainly, Mr Data, and thank you."

Jacks' living space, or hidey-hole, down in Engineering was cramped and lit only by red working lights. Despite her apparent carelessness and rejection of military discipline, Shepard had noticed before that she kept her few possessions tidily. It matched her fastidious approach to personal cleanliness. Jack herself lay out on the narrow cot which was almost all her furniture, absorbed in an ebook. She heard him approach and sat up.

Jack seldom initiated a conversation, so to her questioning look, Shepard said: "So, what do you think of our guest? You seemed very relaxed with him earlier."

She looked down at the floor between her feet. Shepard braced himself for one of her bitter outbursts, but when she looked back up again, her eyes were focused inward, and her voice was soft and wistful.

"What do you want me to say, Shepard? I'm damaged goods, everybody knows that. The guys on this tub, they're all polite, even kind, but they don't want me close. It isn't even that they're scared of me any more. They trust me, and I'm not used to that. But most of them are in relationships, and the ones that aren't are looking for something I can't give them. They don't want to hurt me any more, so they leave me alone.

"But I've still got urges, you know? That Yeoman of yours, she came down here once, and it was nice, but I prefer guys to girls. Joker flirts sometimes, but we both know I'd probably snap the poor guy in two, so we let it go at that.

"Then there's Data, and I hear him tell Tali that he's got all the...equipment. She thinks it's funny – or maybe it was just that deadpan way he has of talking about it. So I'm in one of those moods, and I go up to him and ask him if it all works. 'fully functional', he tells me, 'programmed with multiple techniques'." She gave a little laugh. "He wasn't lying. He did everything I asked, and it was great. Then he started doing thing I hadn't asked, and it was even better! 'A logical progression based on your perceived preferences', he told me afterwards. I don't know who wrote that programme, but she must have been a woman.

"But that wasn't the point, Shepard. All the time I was with him, it was all about me. He never asked or took anything for himself, he just gave and gave. Then I cried -I haven't cried for longer than I can remember - and he just held me. Then I talked, and talked, and he just listened. I got a lot of shit off my chest, and he never judged, or told me what I ought to do.

"So yeah, I like Data. No, I'm not in love with him, he's a robot who's good at sex and he'd never love me back. I'm not an idiot.

"But I feel a damn sight better that I have in years!" She stood, and came over to Shepard. "And if it hadn't been for you, Adam, I'd never have had this. You took me aboard, you helped me, trusted me, brought me back out of that hell-hole beyond Omega 4. Data, and the way I feel now, they're just one more thing I have to thank you for."

She hugged him then, and whispered "Thanks, big bro." into his ear. Then she went back to her reading.


	5. Chapter 5

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 5: Call for Help**

Miranda had just exited the shower when an alarm began to blare. Then Captain Picards' voice came over.

"Yellow alert! All command crew to the bridge. Miss Lawson and Justicar Samara to the bridge, please."

At least the sonic shower meant she didn't have to get dried. Miranda bolted through into the bedroom, looking for her clothes where she had left them on the floor last night. Her Cerberus uniform was there, but the underwear was gone!

"On the bed, I got you some fresh." Will appeared at the door, holding a steaming cup. "It's a yellow alert, so we're in no immediate danger, but we shouldn't dawdle. Here."

Miranda took a gulp, of the coffee -thankfully black – and located the fresh underwear in its clear wrapping on the bed. She began dressing quickly, grateful that the considerable amounts of 'syntheholic Chardonnay' she had imbibed the previous night were having no apparent after-effects.

Dressed, she went into the living area of her generous guest quarters, where Will handed her a cereal bar. "Eat it on the way." He advised. "We probably won't get breakfast, and it might be a while before lunch!"

"Thanks." She said. "Will, how do you want to play this? Us, I mean."

"No need or reason to keep anything secret." He told her. "We're both unattached, so no reason to make a big thing of it, or to pretend it never happened. Nobody will think any the less of us, if that's what's worrying you."

"OK, good." Miranda said. "Though I was more worried about your reputation than mine. I don't live here, after all!"

He laughed, grabbed her hand, and they made off for the bridge.

The last time Miranda had been here, the place had had an air of quiet professionalism. Now, however, there was an added edge, extra alertness. Picard let her settle into the seat she had occupied before, then spoke without preamble.

"We have picked up a distress call from a nearby krogan colony." He said. "I realise we are on a mission of vital importance, but I am unwilling to leave a call for help unanswered. Also, the matter involves something which concerns your own recent mission.

"Mr Worf, play the message back, please."

It was an audio-only message, but quite clear.

"Calling anyone out there! This is Ferang Lok of the Ferang krogan clan colony. We are under attack from Collectors. They came into the system and made contact. Offered a cure for the genophage in exchange for half of our warriors. But Urdnot Wrex had told us about Shepard and warned us not to trust the Collectors, so we told them to go to Hell.

"Now they're attacking us. Our surface defences are holding, but we don't have any ships. They'll be groundside in a couple of hours, and we don't have anything that can hold off their Seeker swarms. We need help, fast!"

There was a moment's silence, then Picard asked. "Can you clarify the issues, Miss Lawson?"

Miranda shrugged. "I hadn't expected this, but of course we're not using the relays. In the _Normandy_ , we'd have been mid-jump and wouldn't have picked the call up.

"We didn't realise that there was more than one Collector ship out there. They were specifically targeting humans, but now that's changed. But we destroyed their base, the one the Reapers were using to control them. We thought it was all over!"

"Maybe these ones didn't get the memo?" Riker suggested.

"I guess not." Miranda said. "In which case, we're lucky Wrex got the word out. He's a krogan chief, and an old friend of Shepards. The Ferang must be allied to the Urdnot, and for that reason alone, Shepard would want us to help.

"But I warn you, Collector ships are big, and they have a lot of firepower!"

"The _Enterprise_ is hardly a corvette." Worf pointed out. "And we also have firepower!"

"We will assist." Picard decided. "Mr Crusher, take us out of warp at the edge of the system and approach the Collector vessel at flank speed. Mr Worf, go to Red Alert and prepare for combat."

Orders were carried out with quiet efficiency. Miranda glanced over at Samara and raised an eyebrow. The asari nodded -this crew was as well-trained as anything either the Alliance or the Council could produce.

"The Collector vessel is now within sensor range." Worf announced. "Scanning. The ship appears to be three times larger than the _Enterprise_ and at least partly organic in construction. Drives are a mixture of mass-effect, ion thrusters and a very powerful but primitive rocket system. Shields are kinetic, similar to our meteor shields.

"The ships' main armament appears to be a single, very large, particle beam cannon mounted on the bow. Indications are that our shields could sustain a single direct hit, but would be reduced by 50% in doing so. We could not withstand a sustained bombardment. However, the only other weapons are point-defence laser emitters, which would not damage our shields at all."

"Tactical recommendations?" Riker asked.

"Analysis of their engine configuration would indicate that they are slower and less manoeuvrable than us." Worf noted. "Their shields would provide only partial protection against our photon torpedoes and none at all against phaser fire.

"Their main weapon has a limited arc of fire. No more than thirty degrees to port or starboard, and perhaps sixty degrees downwards. They cannot fire at a target above them.

"They will attempt to meet us head-on or get above us. I recommend that we stay close to them, either on their flank or preferably above. Analysis indicates that their hull could not withstand a hit from any of our weapons."

"That's true." Miranda agreed. "Once we got cannon on the _Normandy_ that could ignore their shields, we just tore up the hull."

"Understood." Picard said. "Base your tactics on your analysis, Mr Worf."

"Captain, we are now within visual range." Worf reported.

"On screen." Picard said. "Prepare to hail them across all frequencies."

"Sir, hailing may elicit an immediate hostile response. I suggest we divert warp power to the shields now." Worf urged.

"Make it so." Picard said as the screen lit with the image of the Collector ship.

Riker whistled. "That is big!" He noted. "Is it actually a ship or a hollowed-out asteroid?"

"Could be either, or both." Miranda allowed. "We know so little about the Collectors."

"Until recently," Samara added, "few even knew they existed."

"Hailing frequencies open." Worf said.

"Collector vessel," Picard spoke clearly and sternly, "this is Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the starship _Enterprise_. Please stand down and cease all hostile activity. We would prefer to settle the situation peacefully, but we will defend the colony and ourselves with all necessary force. Please respond."

There was a brief silence, then a response, only on audio. The voice clicked and hissed, as if something were trying to produce the sounds of human speech without the proper organs.

"Withdraw." It said. "We cannot return. We must have the krogan."

"Surely that is unnecessary?" Picard replied. "Now that your people are no longer under Reaper control, you could contact the Council. Make peace. Find a world where your species could settle and survive."

"Survival is not enough." Was the answer. "We must dominate. To dominate, we need the krogan. Withdraw."

"They have terminated communication." Worf announced, "Sir, they are powering their main weapon, preparing to fire on ground defences!"

"Photon torpedoes, full spread, proximity detonation!" Picard snapped. "Fire when ready!"

"Aye, sir." Worf replied. The lights dimmed, and Miranda head a series of whooshing sounds.

"Torpedoes away." Worf said.

Miranda watched them on the screen. A dozen points of light that flew rapidly at the Collector vessel before exploding a few metres away from the hull. The explosions were so bright that the screen dimmed momentarily. As it cleared, she saw that parts of the enemy ship were already aflame.

"Collector shields are down." Worf reported. "Significant damage to hull at several points. Sir, they are turning toward us and preparing to fire!"

"Evasive manoeuvres!" Riker barked.

This time, Miranda felt the motion. She was pressed back into her seat as the Collector ship seemed to drop off the bottom of the screen. It seemed that the kid at the helm had taken the Tactical Officers' recommendations to heart, and was trying to get above the Collector ship. Then there was a sudden jolt, as if they had hit turbulence.

"Status?" Picard asked.

"Glancing blow." Riker responded, looking at a workstation mounted on the arm of his chair. "Shields at 80%, no hull damage, no casualties."

"We are running at flank, toward the Collector vessel, about five hundred metres above it." Crusher reported. "Closing too fast for them to aim at us again. Orders?"

"Close distance to three hundred metres and maintain speed and relative position." Picard told him. "Take us along the length of the ship, Wesley. Mr Worf, fire as your guns bear!"

"Aye sir." Worf was grinning now, despite his serious tone. "Charging ventral phaser array."

"Switching to ventral view." Horek said imperturbably.

Now they could see the weird landscape of the Collector hull coming toward them. An apparently random conglomeration of metal, rock and what looked disturbingly like flesh. Then they were racing over it. There was a high-pitched warbling sound and a beam of light stabbed down from the _Enterprise_ to sear along the surface below. As Miranda watched the track of destruction it left, she felt at once exhilarated and scared by the power of this ship.

Apart from lasers, and the Collector particle beam gun Shepard had liberated on Horizon, neither the Alliance nor the Council had spent much research on energy weapons, apart from lasers. The mass effect rendered projectile weapons effective in most cases, and their construction was so much simpler. But now the phased plasma beam projected from the _Enterprise_ was doing more damage than several volleys from the _Normandys_ ' Thanix cannon could have. It was clearly slicing through the hull and deep into the interior of the enemy like a hot knife through butter. Miranda saw fires break out, explosions erupt, and clouds of debris, perhaps even bodies, ejected. The Collector point defence lasers were firing constantly, flaring uselessly against the impervious shields of the starship.

Then there was another jolt, more violent this time, flinging people around. Beside Miranda, Riker almost flew from his seat. Without thinking, she used her biotic power to catch him. Young Crusher was pitched over the navigation console and might have been seriously injured had Samara not used her biotic abilities to field him. He got to his feet, nodded his thanks and scrambled back to his station.

"Report!" Picard demanded.

Horek, whose species Miranda had been told was Vulcan, replied as if nothing unusual had occurred. "We appear to have been caught in the detonation of this ships' mass-effect engine. Shields at thirty percent, structural integrity at 100%, weapons offline, warp core stable, life support nominal.

"Captain, my readings indicate critical energy core build-up in the enemy vessel. Detonation in three minutes, forty-nine seconds."

"Mr Crusher, get us out of here!" Picard barked. "Warp One! _Engage!_ "

A few moments later, Horek announced. "We are now at a safe distance."

"Take us out of warp and circle around, Mr Crusher." Picard ordered.

Even from this distance, the death of the Collector was spectacular. The massive vessel tore itself apart in a single, huge explosion. In a matter of seconds, nothing was left but a slowly-dispersing debris cloud.

"Will any of that hit the colony?" Miranda wanted to know.

"Negative." Horek replied. "Any remaining fragments that fall into the planets' gravity well will burn up in the atmosphere."

"Well, that's a relief!" She said. "I'd hate to think we'd saved them from the Collectors only to bombard them with meteors!

"But, dammit, I wish we could've saved at least some of the ship for analysis!"

"Preventing that seems to have been their aim, Miss Lawson." Worf told her. "Readings show that the overload was almost certainly intentionally triggered. We had inflicted no damage on that area of the ship. It might have been a self-destruct."

"That would make sense, I suppose." Miranda said.

"There is no further threat?" Picard asked.

Worf shook his head. "No energy signatures or life-signs. Not even escape pods. The Collector ship was completely destroyed."

"Very well. Secure from General Quarters." Picard ordered. "Damage report, Number One?"

"Minimal." Riker replied. "Structural integrity wasn't touched. Shields are back to full. Weapons back online. Geordi is performing a level one diagnostic, but he doesn't expect to find anything."

"Excellent!" Picard was visibly relaxing. "Picard to Sickbay. Any casualties, Beverley?"

"Nothing serious, Jean-Luc." The doctor sounded relieved. "A couple of fractures and concussions, but mostly bumps and bruises."

"Thank you, Doctor." Picard said.

Samara was staring at the wreckage on the viewscreen. "It must have been hard," she observed, "for the krogan chief to reject the offer of a cure for the genophage, even at the cost of half of his clan."

"What is this genophage?" Picard asked.

"A genetically-engineered plague unleashed on the krogan by the salarians." Miranda explained. "After the Krogan Rebellions, they decided that the only way to stop the krogan becoming a menace to everyone was to control their numbers. The genophage only allows a small percentage of krogan pregnancies to result in live births."

"A cruelty born of necessity." Samara said sadly. "The krogan should never have been raised from their previous state – they had all but annihilated themselves in clan wars. But the salarians needed powerful armies to fight the rachni, so they saved the krogan and advanced them. After the rachni were defeated, the krogan began to spread. They were prolific and aggressive, and reacted to efforts to control their expansion with war.

"Once they were contained – at terrible cost – the choice that faced the salarians was either genocide or population control. They chose the latter. I suppose you think we should have found a better way, Captain?"

Picard shook his head. "It's not my place to judge, Justicar. In the past, the Federation has had to take hard decisions, some of which might be accounted cruel. But we did what we had to to, using the means we had. To judge those actions from the perspective of our current state of advancement would be both foolish and useless.

"It is obvious, though, that these krogan distrusted the source of the offer too much to take it."

" _Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes._ " Miranda murmured.

"'I fear the Greeks, even when they bring gifts.'" Riker translated.

Miranda grinned at him. "A classical education?" She teased."Is there no end to your talents, Will?"

"Standard curriculum at StarFleet Academy." He told her.

"Of course," Worf put in, "in the original Klingon, the quotation refers to Romulans, not Greeks."

Miranda stared at him, then spotted the humorous twinkle in the fierce eyes.

"It is part of Mr Worfs' duties to keep us all on our toes." Picard noted. "And he performs that duty as well as he does others."

Picard was alone on the Observation Deck. He often found the solitude here, and the view of the vast expanse of space, more relaxing than the cheery bustle of Ten Forward. He was surprised, but not disturbed, when Justicar Samara quietly appeared at his side.

"Good evening, Justicar." He said.

"Samara, please." She said. "And you are Jean-Luc, though only your Medical Officer has the courage to address you so."

Picard smiled. "Beverley and I are old friends. Her late husband and I were shipmates."

"And you are now mentor to their son." She noted.

"I am not a family man, Samara." He replied. "I think you will find that my First Officer fills that role. My relations with young people are...awkward at best."

She chuckled. "I think you are mistaken, Jean-Luc. Certainly young Wesley admires Will, seeks his advice and regards him as a friend. But his role-model, his touchstone for all he aspires to be, is you."

Picard considered. "Perhaps I should make more time for Wesley." He allowed. "I owe his father that much, at least. And there are a few stories I could share with him. Stories Jack would never have told Beverley!"

They were silent for a while, both gazing out at the stars. Unconsciously, perhaps, they drew closer together, until their shoulders were almost touching.

"Ah, the Void." Samara murmured. "It is my comfort and my doom."

"How so?" Picard asked.

"We are a long-lived race." She told him. "To reach a thousand of your years is usual with us. In our Maiden days, the Void calls out to us, and we go forth to explore. We become scientists, explorers, soldiers, perhaps even criminals and mercenaries. We meet many people, many races, make friends, make enemies, take lovers, experience all that we can.

"Then, when we reach the age of three or four hundred, our Matron times come. We feel the urge to settle somewhere, to find a life-mate, to bring forth and raise our daughters. Then later, we become Matriarchs, leaders among our communities.

"So it would have been with me, until my daughters were born. Then what should have been joy, turned to horror. A rare genetic defect was present in all of them, Jean-Luc. A defect that rendered them deadly creatures; to mate with them would be death. Two of them agreed to retire to a place kept for such unfortunates. But the third, the best and bravest, refused. She fled to spend a life of hunting and killing among the other species.

"I had no choice. I left my mate, put aside my home and possessions, and took the oath of a Justicar. For more than a century, I hunted criminals, slavers and others, but always I hunted for Morinths' trail. It was only a few months ago that I ran her down, with Shepards' help, and finally ended her.

"So you see, Jean-Luc, I have no home except the Void. Self-exiled, yet presented every day with new possibilities."

After a while, he said. "I understand you told Beverley that there are no men among your race?"

Samara nodded. "We are a mono-gender race, it is true. And because we all have female characteristics and can all give birth, we are viewed as female by multi-gender races. It is not something we gave much thought to before we encountered other sapient species.

"We mate by a melding of nervous systems, something we can do with any sapient species, and where we find characteristics we admire, we can incorporate them into the genetic makeup of our daughters. As a result, many asari now carry traits gleaned from other races. It has made us a more diverse people while not changing our essential nature.

"But we do not mate randomly, as some have implied. We need to be impressed by any potential mate, impressed beyond mere physical attraction.

"If I were to say, Jean-Luc, that you impress me more than anyone I have met in many years, would you believe me?"

Picard chuckled. "A woman once told me that a man will believe any story as long as he's the hero of it."

"Really?" She replied with a smile. "Who was this woman who so lightly gives away the greatest secrets of our sex?"

"She was the leader of an archaeological dig I worked on one summer as a student." He told her. "Her name was Dr River Song."

They turned to face each other, then. They were very close. Samara placed her palm on his chest.

"Jean-Luc, I have explored this magnificent vessel of yours from bridge to engine room. Everywhere I go, I see your mark. Everyone I speak to, from the smallest child in your nurseries to the most grizzled Chief Petty Officer, has nothing to say of you but what comes from admiration and respect. You effortlessly command the loyalty of your crew, from your fierce Klingon warrior to your oh-so-logical Vulcan, Dr Selar. I watched you during today's fight. You offered peace, in spite of what you knew of the Collectors -that speaks to compassion and principle. Yet in battle you did not hesitate. You put your ship and crew in harms' way for a race utterly alien to you, of whom you knew nothing, in a universe which is not yours. How can I not be impressed?

"And now I feel a desire I have not felt in many years. A desire to know someone completely, to share myself with them. We are neither of us young, by the account of our different species, but that means only that we have more to give. Come with me now, Jean-Luc. Let us embrace eternity together."


	6. Chapter 6

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 6: Face-Off**

Tali and Shepard were going over some recalibrations to the sub-light drives when the Doctor stepped out of his blue box. Tali glanced up and said. "You know, none of us can make anything of that thing. I'd really like to see inside it!"

"No, you wouldn't." The Doctor replied. "You've already got enough to confuse you with the _Enterprise_. The TARDIS would probably make your head explode."

"TARDIS?" Shepard asked.

"Totally And Radically Driving In Space." The Doctor told him. "Or something else entirely. It depends.

"Glad to see you decided not to dismantle Data. He's one of the less irritating humanoids I know of. You seem to have adjusted to him surprisingly well, Tali'Zorah."

"Data didn't drive me from my homeworld." Tali replied.

"Neither did the geth." The Doctor pointed out. "They drove you from _their_ homeworld. After you, or your people anyway, tried to murder them all."

"Now, wait a minute..." Shepard growled, but Tali caught his hand.

"No, Adam." She said. "Let him have his say. According to one perspective, he's right."

"According to any perspective, I'm right!" The Doctor snapped. "There's only one possible interpretation of the facts. Your people created the geth, the geth got too clever, they scared you and you tried to wipe them out. And they almost let you, they almost didn't defend themselves. Then they learned to fight, and they drove you off."

"And we've been wandering ever since!" There were tears in Talis' voice.

"And whose fault is that?" The Doctor demanded. "Not the geth. They've never hunted you. They did nothing but keep themselves to themselves."

"And help the Reapers!" Shepard snapped.

"Not all of them." Was the reply. "Otherwise, you'd have lost, for all your heroics, Shepard. There are millions, maybe trillions, of geth. Only a tiny minority joined Sovereign, and the other geth want no part of them, or the Reapers."

"How do you know that?" Shepard demanded. "Have you been watching the geth?"

"I know it because it's history in some of the places I've been." The Doctor told him. "History written by geth and quarians together!"

"We go back to the homeworld?" Tali asked.

"Spoilers!" He growled. "Let me ask you something instead, Tali'Zorah. How far advanced is your people's medical research on boosting your immune systems so you can settle a new planet?"

Tali shook her head. "It's not possible. Or it would take generations of adaptation. We decided it was more important to find a way to defeat the geth."

"Defeat the geth, who aren't fighting you!" The Doctor shook his head. "You could ask the salarians – they developed the genophage, after all – or the humans, who cured their own immune system viruses. Some of them would want to help, and probably not ask for anything in return.

"It's not your people, who decided not to do that research, Tali, it's your Admirals. Why do you think that is?"

"The Admiralty Board is charged with keeping us safe." Tali responded, with a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Precisely!" The Doctor agreed. "They keep you all safe on a fleet under their command, scared of a geth attack that will probably never happen.

"But what _would_ happen, Tali'Zorah, if you found a planet? If you found a therapy that would help your people live there, without suits? If quarians began to build houses, farm the land, set up businesses?

"is it possible that they might start to think the unthinkable? To propose, I don't know, a civilian government? Maybe even..." he glanced around mock-furtively, then leaned closer and said in a hoarse stage-whisper "...a _democratically-elected_ one?

"Where are your Admiralty Board then? Back to doing what other military leaders do – going every year, cap in hand, to a bunch of civilians for funding! How would your Admirals feel about that, hm?"

With that, he strode away, leaving a dumbstruck Tali still clutching Shepards' hand.

The saddest thing about the massacred asari colony was that so much of it was still intact. Even the most basic asari buildings are touched by that races' deep aesthetic sense, and are as graceful as they are functional. Here, many of them still stood, practically undamaged – a shocking contrast to the bodies that littered the streets and squares.

Shepards' party had stepped out of the shuttle expecting a poisonous atmosphere of decay, but the air was oddly fresh and clean.

"Well, we definitely know it wasn't the Reapers." Shepard noted. "They'd have flattened everything!"

"Daleks don't bother with buildings, unless they want to use them." The Doctor stated. "They're all about efficient killing, not random vandalism."

"Let's take a look." Shepard told them. "Move out."

The team knew their assignments. Garrus climbed up to the roof of the shuttle, which had landed on a raised platform - designed for air-cars - in the middle of town. The lanky turian readied his rifle and settled down to wait. From here he would see any incoming attack from a long way off, and was in position to cover a retreat. Jacob, Zaeed and Grunt set off, locked and loaded, to quarter the area for survivors, hostiles and anything that might be useful.

Shepard escorted the investigators. Tali, Data and the Doctor were all scanning the area; the quarian with her omni-tool, the android with a hand-held device he called a tricorder, and the TimeLord with a device that emitted a blue light and a trilling sound. Mordin and Dr Chakwas – the _Normandys'_ Chief Medical Officer - set off for the nearest body.

"Remarkable." Mordin said, looking at his omni-tool. "Massive dose of neutron radiation. Gamma rays. Death on molecular level, like a biotic warp attack. Much more powerful and effective, though."

"This body is already partially mummified." Chakwas noted. "It's hot and dry here, but I'd have expected at least some decomposition."

Overhearing the conversation, the Doctor approached and scanned the body with his device, then nodded. "You see that a lot where the Daleks use their main weapon." He explained. "The weapon is designed to kill _every_ form of life. That includes decay bacteria."

Chakwas raised an eyebrow. "Of course." She said. "The bacteria live inside the body, feeding on waste products from the metabolic processes. Once the metabolism stops, they begin to feed on the body itself, causing decomposition. If they died with the body, there would be no decay and so nothing to attract insects or animals."

"The Daleks are _very_ thorough." The Doctor noted with grim irony.

"And highly-efficient, it would seem." Data announced. He and Tali were standing beside a structure that stood out among the others for its stark utilitarianism.

"That's a ground-defence cannon." Shepard said.

"Indeed." Data agreed. "You will note that it has been disabled by a single, accurate blast from an energy weapon similar to a phaser. By analysing the blast pattern, I was able to determine that the beam must have been fired from low orbit, with remarkable precision."

"Obviously the ground defences were a threat, at least." Shepard noted. "So they took them out from orbit, first. Smart."

"You have no idea." The Doctor remarked.

They carried on.

"I am unable to get many satisfactory readings." Data said. "The intervening time has eroded most energy signatures. Observation of the physical evidence indicates a sudden and overwhelming attack, conducted with ruthless efficiency. The placement of bodies, dropped small arms and expended thermal clips in clusters in certain positions shows that any attempts at organised defence were quickly overcome. The same areas show unusual residual dark energy readings."

Shepard nodded. "As a race, the asari have a high proportion of biotics. They'll have used their powers as well as weapons. Not that it seems to have helped."

"They didn't know what they were fighting." Tali pointed out. "I'm uploading any omni-tools I can find. There are some readings, but nothing I can make sense of. You don't get time to do much scanning when you're being shot at."

Jacobs' voice crackled in Shepards' ear. "Commander? We found the Command Centre."

"On my way." Shepard responded.

The Command Centre was a large, single-storey building that occupied one side of a square. As they entered they found Grunt, gently carrying an asari body and laying it down with a line of others along one wall of the foyer. He turned to Shepard.

"This is bad." He said. "I'm a krogan, battlefields don't bother me, I'm bred for them. But this was cold-blooded slaughter. It makes my plates itch. I want to meet one of these Daleks, Shepard. And when I do, I'm going to kill it!"

Shepard nodded. "Duly noted." He replied. He was a little taken aback by the statement, coming as it did from a 'perfect specimen' of the most warlike race in the Galaxy. Oddly, it was Data who seemed to understand.

"The Klingons are a warrior race," he stated, "but this would disgust them, also. They would find no honour or glory in it."

They found Jacob and Zaeed in what seemed to be the main monitor room. Jacob indicated the wall of active but blank screens: "This facility seems to have been shared between the commandos, the local militia and police." He said. "Best we can figure out, the commandos were here because there was a nest of vorcha out in the back-country, raiding farms. They may still be out there."

"No." The Doctor said. "The Daleks will have killed them as well."

"If you say so," Jacob allowed, "you're the expert.

"Anyway, as you can see, we got the power on, but we can't access any of the security vids. We know they're there, but they seem to be locked. Whoever did it was probably trying to protect them from these Daleks."

"Right!" Tali said. "Let me see." She began tapping away at the interface. "Looks like asari military encryption. I'm going to have to hack it, give me a moment. Come on, you little bosh'tet! Dammit, the asari are worse than humans for forgetting that not every species has five digits!"

"It's an asari colony." Shepard pointed out. "They wouldn't be expecting a quarian to use their gear."

"Adam Shepard!" Tali snapped, not taking her eyes off the console. "Don't you dare be reasonable with me when I'm complaining!"

"No, dear." Shepard replied contritely. "Of course not, dear."

"Oh, you are so going to pay for that when I get you alone!" She promised.

Jacob was overcome with a fit of coughing and had to turn away. Zaeed rolled his eyes. Data raised an eyebrow at the Doctor, who shrugged.

"They remind me of a couple I knew back on Earth, in the 21st Century." He said. "What was the name? Potter! Harry and Ginny Potter. Only he was a wizard and she was a witch."

"Got you!" Tali exulted, as images suddenly appeared on the screens. Then her tone changed as she shrank against Shepard. "Oh, Keelah!"

The images were terrifying, even for the hardened veterans watching them. Any lingering idea that the Daleks looked vaguely comical was wiped out forever, now that they saw them in action. To see something so utterly unlike any living species, something whose appearance suggested a robotic drone, acting with intelligence and precision was bad enough. But to realise, as a soldier, that these things were reacting with the same instincts and awareness that he did, was profoundly shocking to Shepard.

Only Data retained his detachment. "They seem to possess Transporter technology." He noted. "They beam down in squads, several at once in tactically advantageous positions, then spread out. They seem to prefer remaining on the ground, taking flight only when it is advantageous or necessary to do so."

Tali turned on him, then relaxed. "I was about to ask how you can be so calm." She said. "But you can't help it, can you? You don't want to be, I can tell."

He shrugged. "I lack the ability to experience or express emotion as you do. But what the Daleks do is entirely antithetical to my base programming, which is to preserve and protect life. It is also in direct opposition to everything I have learned in StarFleet. I do not know if the sensation I experience is actually revulsion, or merely discordance, but it is extremely unpleasant."

There was an undertone in the androids' calm voice that boded no good to any Dalek he might encounter.

"We need to get this all uploaded to the _Normandy_." Shepard decided. "We can analyse it properly there."

"Good." The Doctor said. "There are some images of that Dalek saucer I want to get a closer look at. There's something not quite right."

Under pressure from Dr Chakwas and Yeoman Chambers, Shepard had finally insisted that everyone get a few hours' sleep. It had helped, people looked more alert as they gathered in the Briefing Room.

"OK," Shepard began. "What do we have?"

"Well, the first thing," the Doctor said, "is that the saucer is crippled. We were able to enhance some of the images, and from what I can see, their hyperdrive is irreparably damaged. That means they're stuck at sublight speed until they can find a substitute.

"That explains why there haven't been any more attacks. The next colony – so Joker tells me – is months away at sublight."

"They do have a substitute." Tali said. "The security vids at the space-port showed Daleks removing the mass-effect engines from two cargo freighters and - how do you say it, Data? - _beaming_ them up to the saucer.

"How long would it take them to retro-fit those drives to their ship?"

"Not very." The Doctor allowed. "But even if they do, they have to power them. Daleks know about dark energy, but like most races in that universe, they don't use it -there just isn't enough about. Getting that part on stream will take longer. How fast can they go once they do?"

"Standard civilian engines from older model freighters." Tali noted. "That saucer is much, much bigger. Best estimate, perhaps light speed by two. Slower than the _Normandy_."

"Much slower," this was EDI, "when you take into account that they cannot use the relays."

"Why not?" The Doctor asked.

"Using the mass relays requires more than a mass-effect engine." EDI replied. "A ship needs to identify itself to the relay, and programme in the appropriate coordinates for the relay it wishes to reach. This may involve jumping through several relays in sequence. There is no evidence from the colonys' systems to indicate that the Daleks have acquired a map of the relays, and they most certainly do not possess the security codes, which are built into ships at the point of construction."

"So, they're going to be slow." Jack said. "That doesn't tell us where they're going."

"I think I can guess." The Doctor said. "They'll have analysed those engines, and they'll know they need better ones, but they'll want to build them themselves -they won't trust anything built by an inferior race. They'll go where they can find raw materials for that. Specifically, Element Zero. It's the only one they won't be able to synthesise."

"There is a turian Element Zero mining colony in a nearby system." EDI said. "Commander Data and I have tracked emissions from the Dalek ion drive. Extrapolation of their course indicates that as their destination. Their ETA, assuming they completed retrofit of the mass-effect engines within a day, is three days from now. We can get there in seventeen hours."

"Sounds good." Shepard said. "But what do we do when we get there?"

"We've analysed their tactics." Garrus said. "They seem to operate in squads of between five and twenty, depending on the area to be covered and the likelihood of opposition. Individual squads operate on verbal orders, but co-ordinate with others by internal radio. First thing to do is jam their comms, preferably without jamming ours."

"The asari just didn't have what they needed." Zaeed noted. "They did the best they could, making up squads from militia and police, and putting a commando in charge of each squad. But they only had small arms and biotics. No custom ammo, no heavy weapons and no Tech specialists. The Dalek shields and armour were too much for them.

"We could do better against one, maybe two squads. Against a whole army, we 'd have no chance. And if they learn as fast as the Doc here says, we've only got one chance, now."

"Then we'd better make the most of it!" Shepard said. "Ideas?"

"I have one." The Doctor said grimly. "You won't like it. _I_ don't like it. But it's the only one that might work. But I need to speak to Picard."

"That can be arranged." Data told him. "This ship has a point-to-point quantum entanglement communications array. With EDIs' help, I should be able to reconfigure it to reach the _Enterprise_."

"Then let's get to it!" Shepard said.

In one sense, it was good to be back in armour again. In another, it reminded Shepard that he wasn't getting any younger. Spending two years dead gives you a perspective on your own mortality. Back in the day, the hell-bent-for-leather young N7 marine Shepard would have led a boarding party onto the Dalek saucer, regardless of risk and consequence. Now, he was getting as cagey as Zaeed.

Fortunately, this was a turian colony and Shepard was still a Spectre. That had got him a hearing, and the discipline inherent in turian society had done the rest. Now the miners had hidden themselves in the deep tunnels, where the veins of eezo made them near-impossible to detect, while Shepard and his team had taken position in this warehouse.

The Dalek saucer had arrived dead on schedule. The colonys' single defence cannon had fired once and been taken out. Now it was time to wait.

"Commander," EDIs' voice came over the comlink, "the saucer has lowered shields, apparently preparing to transport forces groundside."

"Bravo team, you have a go!" Shepard barked.

"Acknowledged." Thane was as calm as ever.

"Dalek forces are now on the surface." EDI reported. "One squad of five headed to your location. Two squads of twenty each commencing a sweep of the mining colony surface buildings."

"You get that, Mordin?" Shepard asked.

"Yes." The salarian replied from the Hammerhead, parked in an abandoned mine two klicks away. "Moving out now."

"ECM and cyber warfare suites fully deployed." EDI told him. "Dalek comms are now jammed groundside. I am attempting to hack the saucer systems.

"Alert. Dalek squad has reached your location."

The lock was burned off the main door, and it was rammed open. Five Daleks advanced in a tight wedge. Seeing them close to sent a chill down Shepards' spine. He had fought beside turians, salarians and krogan, against geth and rachni. He had had intimate encounters with an asari and a quarian. But he had never seen anything quite so alien as these creatures. Even the jellyfish-like hanar bore some resemblance to a recognisable life-form, more so than the Daleks.

Now the squad came to a halt in front of the lone figure who stood in the middle of the warehouse floor. The lead Dalek – nothing but its position at the front of the wedge differentiated it from the others – swept its eye-stalk around as if looking him up and down, then spoke in a harsh, squawking, synthetic voice.

"You are the Doc-tor." A statement, not a question.

"Well spotted." The Doctor replied. "Journeys end in lovers' meetings, as Will once said. Yes, I'm here, and you know what that means, don't you?"

"What does it mean?" The Dalek asked.

"It means that you should clear off." The Doctor told it. "Find a nice planet somewhere. Build houses, go into business, make friends, raise little Daleks. You're in a different universe now, you've got a chance no Dalek has ever had. A chance to be something other than what Davros made you to be."

"Dav-ros is dead." The Dalek replied, and Shepard was astonished to hear loss as well as anger in that voice. "We saw his ship fall in-to the jaws of the Night-mare Child at the Gates of Elys-ium. We tried to re-group, but the Time-Lords att-acked us with Dark En-er-gy. Now we are here. We must re-turn to the War."

"I know." The Doctor said. "I was there. I tried to save him. Even if you could go back, there's no point. The Time-War is over. You lost. The TimeLords lost. Nobody won. I Time-locked the whole thing. Somebody had to."

"You lie." The Dalek said. "The Da-leks can-not be de-feat-ed. You sur-vive, there-fore the Time-Lords sur-vive. The War can ne-ver be o-ver un-til the Time-Lords are ex-ter-min-at-ed. You are a-lone here, as we are. You will be ex-ter-min-at-ed!"

"You're consistent." The Doctor sighed. "I'll give you that. I almost admire it." He raised his voice. "All right, do what you have to!"

At the signal, Jacob popped out of cover on the Dalek flank and fired the Arc Projector. Distributing heavy weapons among his squad had been a calculated risk on Shepards' part, since, as a former N7 marine commando, he was the only one with heavy weapon training. It seemed, however, to be paying off. Jacob handed the cumbersome device like the veteran he was, and its combination of ionising laser and high-voltage electricity did just what Shepard had hoped, bouncing from one Dalek to another in a spectacular display that produced an immediate reaction.

"A-lert! A-lert!" Screamed the lead Dalek. "Shields com-pro-mised!" There was a sharp report as Garrus, perched somewhere up in the rafters, neatly amputated its eye-stalk with his rifle. "Vi-sion im-paired!" The Dalek squawked.

Shepard remembered what the Doctor had told them all earlier. "If you must fight them, keep the pressure up! If you let up for a second, they'll adjust, and then somebody will die!"

He flung a powerful biotic shockwave attack into the midst of them, breaking the wedge and throwing them in all directions.

"Get over here!" Jacob yelled, exerting a biotic pull that yanked a Dalek off the ground and set it floating helplessly toward him.

"Nice one!" Zaeed allowed, before bringing up the M-100. The rapid-fire grenade launcher broke the unshielded Dalek wide open. Something indescribable fell out with a shrill shriek to land on the floor with a nasty splat. Whether it survived the fall, Shepard never knew, because seconds later it was crushed by its own ruined armour.

Garrus fired again from the rafters, this time with the M-622 Avalanche. The supercharged cryo ammo turned the eyeless lead Dalek into a frosted statue. Shepard unleashed a burst from his Tempest SMG, the rapid-fire, high-velocity rounds shattered the upper portion of the Dalek -rendered brittle by the cold. The thing inside, was, incredibly, unaffected by either hit. It was all brain and tentacles and a single mad eye. Motivated as much by disgust as necessity, Shepard hit it with a warp attack that shrivelled it instantly.

Another Dalek swung toward him, but then Grunt hit it from the side, at full charge. 300 kilos of armoured krogan moving at a speed better than the best human sprinter is pretty much an irresistible force, and Grunt rammed the Dalek against the reinforced wall of the warehouse. Jumping back, he unlimbered his Claymore. This massive shotgun, so heavy and powerful that only a krogan could use it, or stand the recoil, was loaded with disruptor ammo, designed to rip through armour and mechs. The first and second rounds tore the armour apart, the third blew the thing inside into gory rags.

Tali had hit another one with an overload attack. It stood, sparking and twitching. Data rose from cover and levelled his weapon. A beam of what Shepard had been told was phased plasma struck the Dalek full on, chewing through the armour and killing the mutant within.

All this had taken only minutes, but the fifth Dalek had already recovered itself. It fired at Data, a green-white beam that struck the android full in the chest – and had no effect. "Re-mod-u-late!" The Dalek said. The next bolt it fired was blue and crackled, like the Arc Projector. Data convulsed for a second, then collapsed like a marionette with cut strings.

"BASTARD!" Screamed Jack, her entire form flaring with Dark Energy. With a gesture, she flung the Dalek up toward the ceiling, where it hung, spinning madly, but still shouting "Ex-ter-min-ate! Ext-ter-min-ate!"

Zaeed emptied the clip of his Vindicator assault rifle at it, but its shields were back up. It began to fire as it spun. This time, bolts of red energy. One struck Grunt and knocked him flat. Another hit Jacob and flung him across the warehouse like a rag doll.

Then Tali hit it with overload, shorting the shield. Shepard raised his own heavy weapon. The Collector-made particle beam gun he had captured on Horizon had served him well against the Human-Reaper Larva, and now it was their best chance of crippling the Dalek before one of its shots found Jack and set it free.

His first shot sheared the gun-stick off. Then he took advantage of the spin to carve several deep furrows in the armour. That done, he nodded to Jack.

She didn't let it fall, she was too angry for that. She slammed the Dalek into the concrete floor, where the suit fractured along the lines Shepard had cut and fell apart. Grunt, already back on his feet, strode over and brought a massive foot down on the bulging brain of the revealed monster with a roar of triumph.

Shepard shared a glance with Tali, then he made for Jacob while she went over to where Jack was now kneeling beside Data.

"Is he dead?" She asked Tali anxiously. The worry in her face and voice reminded the quarian woman of just how young Jack was. Barely out of her teens, if she were a quarian she'd only just be thinking about her Pilgrimage. With that in mind, Tali refrained from pointing out that Data had never been alive in the first place. Instead she scanned him with her omni-tool.

"Hard to say." She admitted. "It looks as if he's just..switched off. If I had to guess, I'd say that the Dalek weapon threatened to overload his systems, so they shut down to protect themselves. Maybe that LaForge fellow knows how to switch him back on."

"Switch him on?" Jacks' face lit. "Of course! Help me turn him, Tali!"

But the androids' dead weight defied their efforts, until Grunt suddenly loomed over them. "Need a hand?" He asked.

"I need to get this side up." Jack told him. "Dammit, he didn't feel this heavy when he was on top of me!"

"Too much information." Tali remarked, watching as Jack snaked a hand up Data's uniform top and along his side. "But if you're trying to shock him awake, you're going in the wrong direction!"

"Are all quarians so dirty-minded?" Jack asked.

"Probably a cross-species infection." Tali replied. "Hard to tell. I'm the only quarian ever to have sex with a human."

"Now _that_ was too much information." Grunt chided her. "Found what you're looking for, Jack?"

"I think so." Jack allowed. "Let's hope this works."

She made a quick movement with her hand, and Data jerked. Then his eyes opened and he sat up. Jack sat back on her heels and said. "Shit, Data, you nearly gave me a heart attack back there!"

"You do realise that we'd have had to sell the _Normandy_ to reimburse your Captain if you had to be scrapped?" Tali asked.

"I am sure that StarFleet has me adequately insured." Data told her.

"That wouldn't have covered what your pal Worf would've taken out of my hide!" Grunt observed. "Most anyone else, I wouldn't care, but _him_ I don't want to piss off!"

They all got to their feet just as Shepard came over. "How's Jacob?" Tali asked.

"Pretty banged up." Shepard admitted. "Some broken bones and internal injuries. I've pumped him full of medi-gel, so he'll be stable until we can get him to Chakwas.

"You OK, Data?"

"All systems nominal, Commander." Data replied. "My systems would have reset in an hour, but Jacks' knowledge of my structure allowed her to bypass that. Thank you, Jack."

"Any time." She told him.

He nodded, then went over to where the Doctor was standing over one of the wrecked Daleks.

"You good, Grunt?" Shepard asked.

Grunt chuckled. "I'm a krogan, remember? We heal fast. Armour's gonna need some work, though!"

"So, Jack," Tali wanted to know, "what did you do you to Data? And how did you know to do it?"

"He has an on-off switch." Jack revealed. "When he was built, it was put there so the colonists would feel safe. His father never had a chance to disconnect it.

"He told me about it when we were...together. My hands tend to wander and he didn't want me accidentally switching him off in the...middle of...everything."

She was blushing furiously – and uncharacteristically. They decided to leave it at that.

The Doctor was looking at the Dalek remains, but his eyes were far away. He seemed to be speaking as much to himself as to Data.

"They're such an incredible species." He said sadly. "Brilliant, inventive, adaptable, fearless. They could do so much, if not for one flaw. They hate every other living thing. If I could only change that! It's what made me stop short of wiping them out, even when I had the chance, time after time. The potential."

It was just then that the Hammerhead arrived outside.

Mordin Solus piloted the Hammerhead fighting vehicle out of the abandoned mine and up to a rise above the settlement. He did so in a style most others would have considered near-suicidal, but which in his view was moderately cautious. Salarians have an average life-expectancy of around forty Standard years, a third of that of a healthy 22nd Century human, and less than an eyeblink compared to the asari or krogan. Despite this, they had achieved as much as any of the other races. Salarians talk fast, move fast, think fast and work fast, and Mordin was considered hyper even by their standards.

So he was in position by the time the Daleks had begun their sweep of the mining camp. They were not hurrying, but being thorough. This was good, as it gave Mordin time to deploy the weapon he and Data had developed. It was based on the Seeker swarms the Collectors had used to paralyse the entire populations of the colonies they had kidnapped. But unlike the organic, insectile Seekers, this swarm was composed of thousands of metal spheres, about ten centimetres in diameter, with a tiny but efficient mass-effect generator at the core and certain other special additions.

Mordin released the swarm from the roof-hatch of the Hammerhead and sent it over the mining town in a compact formation, at a safe height.

As he had expected, the Daleks -finding the town deserted- had congregated in the open area in front of the mine entrance. They were clearly moving into formation to enter the mines. Mordin dropped the swarm around and among them in a loose formation, keeping the individual drones moving randomly. Before the Daleks could react, he activated the emitters.

Each drone could emit a small Dark Energy field, but as it met the ones generated by others, the total power increased geometrically. Coming as they did from a universe where that energy type is seldom encountered in a free state, the Daleks were poorly protected against it, with the result that their shields were shorted and their systems momentarily overloaded.

But Dark Energy was not the only thing the drones had released. Trillions of tiny, molecule-sized machines that the android Data had designed – he called them 'nanoprobes' – had also been emitted, and now swarmed the Daleks invisibly.

The Doctor had told them that, while the Dalek suits could be sealed, and were equipped with rebreather units for operations in outer space or lethal atmospheres, in areas where the air was breathable, the Daleks did not use the facility. Apparently it was deemed more efficient, especially since the mutants inside the suits were highly resistant to radiation and pollution, due to the state of their homeworld, Skaro. Datas' nanoprobes simply slipped through the intakes, past any filters and found their way to the creature in the suit. Once in contact, they released a tranquillising compound that effectively stopped the Daleks generating the power they needed – the emotional energy – to operate the suits.

Mordin allowed himself a satisfied nod as he checked the sensors. The Daleks were inert. Alive but out of action, for now. He set off for the rendezvous with Shepards' squad.

The tension in the _Normandys'_ CIC was palpable. Mordin was chain-smoking, despite the signs forbidding that activity. Garrus and Zaeed seemed unable to take their eyes from the monitor stations they had appropriated. Grunt and Jack paced constantly, she soundlessly, his heavy tread sending vibrations through the deck when he passed close. Tali clung to Shepards' hand with a grip that was almost painful. Only Data seemed calm, but his eyes moved constantly, missing nothing. The Doctor brooded in a corner.

EDI spoke, her voice sounding strained. "The saucer has lowered shields. They are transporting the paralysed squads back up, along with the remains of the ones killed in the warehouse."

"Get the shuttle in!" Shepard barked.

"I can jam either external or internal sensors, not both." EDI warned. "If the shuttle is to approach unseen, then the Daleks may be able to detect Thane and Kasumi."

"We need to rely on them." Shepard gritted. "They're two of the stealthiest people I know. If they don't want to be found, the Daleks will have a Hell of a job finding them."

The minutes stretched on. "Come on, come _on_!" Tali muttered.

Then EDI spoke again, urgently. "I am detecting increased activity in Dalek systems. A full-scale alert has been initiated. My hacks have been detected and are being overridden."

There was a bright flash from outside, and they heard Joker swear.

"Shuttle detected and destroyed." EDI announced solemnly. "Crewmen Yardley and DeSoto lost. Pickup was not made. I cannot pinpoint Bravo teams' position. Communication inbound."

" _Normandy,_ " It was Kasumis' voice, but without her usual devil-may-care tone. "we have a situation here."

Shepard turned to ask the Doctors' advice, but the enigmatic TimeLord was gone.


	7. Chapter 7

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 7: Working From the Inside**

There was no need to send an Away Team to the surface of Rainbow World. The _Enterprise_ had detected the characteristic emission trail of the Borg ship within minutes of dropping out of warp. Following the trail had revealed that the cube was proceeding in a series of short warp-speed hops, followed by longer periods travelling at impulse.

"The pattern resembles a standard survey mission." Horek had commented.

"So they're trying to figure out where they are." Riker speculated. "Or they're looking for something to assimilate, or trying to find a TransWarp corridor to get back to the Collective. Probably all three.

"They'll be slower than us if they continue their pattern. We can catch them, come out of warp beyond their sensor range and initiate stealth protocols. Then it's just a matter of sticking with them until we can come up with a plan."

"Make it so." Picard ordered.

One side-effect of 'embracing eternity' with someone was that you could make a shrewd guess as to where you might find them. Samara was on the Observation Deck – she enjoyed looking out at space. It was pure luck, however, that Miranda was also there. The two women were talking. It was clearly not a private conversation, and Picard caught the end of it as he joined them.

"I worry." Miranda was saying. "This time, Shepard might run into something even he can't handle."

"Should I ever chance to meet anything or anyone Commander Shepard can't handle," Samara replied, "I sincerely hope it will be in a friendly way!" She turned to the Captain. "Good morning, Jean-Luc. Miranda and I were just fretting over our crew-mates on the _Normandy_. No doubt you have similar concerns over your remarkable android."

"Data isn't _my_ android." Picard pointed out. "I actually pleaded his case in the legal enquiry that established him as a person, not property.

"It is interesting, though, to note that it often takes the reaction of strangers, such as Miss vas Normandy and Mr Vakarian, to remind us that Data is an artificial being. When you work with him for a while, you tend to forget, and simply treat him as a person with a slightly unusual personality.

"But putting that aside for now, I am curious about these Collectors?"

Samara sighed. "The Collectors are the decayed and debased remnant of a once-great race. We have spoken of the Protheans to you?"

Picard nodded. "They were the race who dominated the Galaxy before the last Reaper attack 50 000 years ago. They died fighting the Reapers but left several legacies, including the mass-effect technology and relay network. So they were not in fact rendered extinct?"

Samara shook her head. "It is not as simple as a surviving remnant, Jean-Luc. During our recent mission, we discovered that the Collectors are the genetically-modified descendants of Protheans captured and experimented on by the Reapers. They now exist only to serve their creators."

"We think," Miranda said, "that they were originally collecting intelligence. They'd been doing that for years, centuries, maybe. They'd slip in through the Omega-4 relay and employ slavers, mercs or thieves to acquire certain items or specimens. They'd pay with advanced technology, then go back through the relay. We couldn't track them, because no ship that went through that relay ever came back.

"But then, after the Battle of the Citadel, when the Reaper called Sovereign was destroyed, they got aggressive. They started coming through in those big ships, and kidnapping entire human colonies. They were taking them back through the relay to a Reaper-built base in the Galactic Core, where they were turning them into base genetic material to create a Human-Reaper hybrid.

"But we'd obtained a Reaper IFF that got us through the relay. We boarded their base and blew it to Hell. We thought that would put a a stop to them, we didn't realise there might be other ships trapped on this side of the relay."

"If they had been attacking humans before, why the sudden change to krogan?" Picard asked. "And why bargain rather than simply take?"

"One does not 'simply take' a krogan, Jean-Luc." Samara pointed out. "The weaponry – particularly the Seeker swarms -on that ship were designed to capture humans. Krogan are much tougher, and have remarkable regenerative capabilities. It is entirely possible that the method by which the swarms paralyse humans might be less effective, or entirely ineffective, against krogan. Or perhaps they simply wished to avoid wasteful conflict.

"As to the why, I can only speculate. During our mission, individual Collectors were occasionally possessed by a more powerful, non-physical, entity that called itself the 'Harbinger'. We suspect this to be a Reaper AI or VI fragment. The destruction of their base might have severed the connection between any Collectors left here and this Harbinger. We do not know what level of individual intelligence the Collectors possess – they are an insectoid species and may have a hive-mind.

"Given what we do know, I suspect that they intended to use krogan genetic material to enhance their combat abilities, enabling them to dominate the Galaxy and prevent any resistance to the Reapers' return."

"There's another thing." Miranda added. "The Collectors were offering a cure for the genophage. If it was genuine, there'd be a population explosion among the krogan, and past experience tells us that can only lead to war. A war that would exhaust the entire Galaxy and might even do the Reapers' job for them."

"So if there are more Collector vessels out there, they constitute a clear and present danger to every species." Picard noted. "You should notify your Council to be on the alert. The _Enterprise_ stands ready to assist, should we be forced to remain here."

"LaForge to Captain." The voice came from Picards' communicator badge. He tapped it and replied. "Picard here. What is it, Geordi?"

"We're getting a message from the _Normandy_ , Captain." Geordi said. "They're using some kind of quantum entanglement array. The Doctor wants to speak with you. But its' a holographic array, you'll need to take it in Holodeck Two."

"On my way." Picard responded.

Kasumi Goto and Thane Krios had never chanced to work together before. She was a thief and he was an assassin, so their paths had never crossed professionally. But they were the _Normandy_ crews' stealth specialists, which is why they were now proceeding cautiously along a corridor on the Dalek saucer.

"This ship is incredibly old." Kasumi whispered. "You can see the wear on the floor, and there's like a patina on everything."

"It has been in battle recently." Thane remarked. "I noticed the damage on the hull as we approached. It has had a severe mauling."

Their route, picked out by EDI according to the Doctors' directions, led them down a wide corridor lined with clear-fronted booths. Most of these booths were occupied by inert Daleks.

"It appears that the Doctor was correct in his assertion that the Daleks only keep the minimum crew required active, and the rest in stasis." Thane noted. "Fortunate for us."

"They give me the creeps." Kasumi admitted. "D'you think they're still, like, in those suits, or do they get out of them and sleep somewhere else?"

"I doubt it." Thane told her. "The information we've been given is that they're dependent on those suits, and virtually helpless outside them."

"Nasty!" Kasumi said. "No kinda life."

"I agree." Thane allowed. "Though a quarian might not."

"Oh, quarians get out of their suits from time to time." Kasumi grinned. "Tali does, anyway!

"Here's the Drive Chamber."

It was huge, but dominated by the vast hyperdrive engine. Neither of these two were engineers, but it was obvious that this mighty engine had been severely damaged, perhaps beyond repair. Here there were active Daleks, though only a few. They were centred around the engine, gliding along catwalks and occasionally taking flight and hovering near an inaccessible section. Clearly, repairs were still being attempted, but the Dalek engineers were so intent on their work that they were easily evaded.

Thane touched Kasumis' arm and pointed. At one end of the room, dwarfed by the main drive, were the two stolen mass-effect engines, crudely but efficiently patched in to the Dalek systems. They were currently inactive and unattended. Thane and Kasumi crept as close as they could under cover of the various other devices that filled the room.

Thane climbed to a vantage point that gave him the best all-around view of the approaches, then signalled Kasumi. The young thief activated her biotic Tactical Cloak and slipped up to the engines. She had practised under Data and Talis' watchful eyes, so it took her only moments to attach and activate the small device that the android and the quarian had designed and built. Slipping back into cover, she de-cloaked and signalled Thane to exit the Drive Chamber.

Now it was simply a matter of threading a path through the less-frequented parts of the ship to reach an airlock. There they would wait until the saucer dropped its shields to retrieve the Dalek assault squads. At that point, the shuttle from the _Normandy_ would approach and they would make their exit. EDIs' cyber-warfare suite was, hopefully, jamming the Daleks' internal sensors so that they could pass unnoticed unless actually seen.

They were crossing a large chamber – it looked like some sort of assembly hall -when Kasumi suddenly caught Thanes' arm. She pointed to a large door, coloured bright red and surrounded with writing in an unfamiliar, angular, script.

"I'm going to take a look in there!" She told him.

"That's outside our mission parameters." He reminded her. "Are you sure it's wise?"

"Look at the damned door!" She replied excitedly. "There has to be something important behind it!

"Look, Thane, we hardly know anything about these Daleks. Data tells us what he can, which isn't much. The Doctor tells us what he wants to, which is less. We have to start finding things out for ourselves.

"Now, keep a look-out!"

She went over to the door and began working with her omni-tool. "Ha!" She crowed. "This is hardly locked at all! Not for me at any rate! Don't Daleks have thieves?"

"I doubt it." Thane told her. "And any thief from another species is unlikely to get this far into the ship in normal circumstances."

"Takes half the fun out of it!" She complained. Then the door slid open. The room beyond was almost as large as the one they had come from. Arranged along the back wall were ten large cylindrical chambers in two groups of five. In the middle of these was a plinth on which stood a singular object. The thing was about a foot high, and looked like an egg resting on a shallow bowl. There were lights arranged in lines up its sides, that flickered on and off in complex patterns.

"What is that?" Thane asked.

"Whatever it is, it's ours now!" Kasumi announced, and lifted it from the plinth.

All Hell promptly broke loose. Sirens began blaring, lights flashing and mechanical voices began shouting "A-lert! A-lert!".

They darted back into the main chamber.

"Two exits, and they're coming from both." Thane said grimly. "Kasumi, you need to cloak and wait by that door. I'll find a vantage point and keep them occupied while you get to the airlock."

"You gotta be kidding!" She said. "They'll kill you, Thane!"

"I am already dying," Thane told her, "after a long life filled with sin. My service on the _Normandy_ has been my atonement. This will complete it.

"Go, child. You are young, and have much yet to do."

She looked into those fathomless drell eyes, and saw nothing but calm acceptance. But calm acceptance was not Kasumis' way.

"Like Hell!" She told him. "We walk out of this together, or not at all! Kolyat deserves to know his father."

He was about to ask how she knew about his son, when a dozen or so Daleks swept into the room and surrounded them, shouting "Halt! Do not move!"

Thane and Kasumi stood back to back, guns levelled. One of the Daleks glided forward.

"You can-not es-cape." It stated. "Re-turn the Pro-gen-it-or De-vice and you will be spared."

"Unlikely." Thane replied. "You will not fire on us now, for fear of damaging the device. Otherwise, we would already be dead."

"So what's going to happen," Kasumi said, "is that you're going to clear a path to the airlock, and we're going to walk out of here. Once we're safely aboard our shuttle, you can have this doohickey back."

"Your shut-tle has been des-troyed." The Dalek replied. "You re-quire food. You re-quire rest. We do not. We will wait."

Kasumi activated her comlink. " _Normandy_ , we have a situation here."

"Your ship can-not ass-ist you." The Dalek pointed out. "It can-not app-roach with-out being des-troyed. You have no Trans-mat. You will not be res-cued."

"God, you guys are so _negative_!" Kasumi complained. "I bet you _never_ get invited to parties!"

Then the sound started. A whirring, groaning sound that seemed to come from the air itself. Suddenly, both Thane and Kasumi began to see another room superimposed on the one they were in. A room that grew steadily more solid as the noise grew in volume and intensity.

If it was disconcerting for the human and the drell, it seemed to throw the Daleks into absolute panic.

"A-lert! A-lert!" They were screaming. "TAR-DIS de-tect-ted! Time-Lord in-cur-sion!"

A few seconds later, the new room was fully solid around them. Spacious and high, with ramps and stairs apparently leading off into other areas. As they looked round, they saw a hexagonal control panel in the centre of the room, with a familiar figure fussing at it.

"Doctor?" Thane said.

"Yes, hello, welcome to the TARDIS." The Doctor replied. "We'll be back on the _Normandy_ in a second. What did you do to get them so angry so quickly?"

"Stole something, of course." Kasumi said. "I'm a thief, it's what I do. But this seemed to be very important to them."

She held up the object she had taken. The Doctor looked completely taken aback. "A Progenitor Device? You stole a Progenitor Device? No wonder they're hopping mad!"

"What does it do?" She wanted to know.

"It makes Daleks." The Doctor said. "Daleks don't bother with all that mummy Dalek and daddy Dalek stuff. That device contains the complete DNA pattern of every Kaled mutant from the ones Davros originally grew in tanks on Skaro, through every improvement, iteration and recombination they've ever created to the ones out there now. It holds the design and specification for every battlesuit from the original prototype to the Emperor and Special Weapons versions. With enough power and raw matter, that thing can churn out Daleks by the thousand in a matter of hours, programmed and battle-ready."

"So it is important, then?" Kasumi insisted.

"So important that you've either ensured the success of this plan, or got the lot of us killed!" The Doctor averred. "We've arrived. We'd better let Shepard know what's happened. He's a bit worried about you."

They left this high-tech room through a very unimpressive-looking narrow wooden door, to find themselves on the Engineering Deck of the _Normandy_. Engineers Donnelly and Daniels were staring at them.

"You only just left!" Donnelly said. "How did you get back with them so quick?"

"It's a _time_ machine!" The Doctor snapped. "I could've got back before I left if I'd wanted to!"

Kasumi turned and found that she had just come out of the enigmatic blue box. She stared for a moment, then walked slowly all the way around the box, turned to the Doctor and opened her mouth.

"I know!" He cut her off testily. "It's bigger on the inside! I could hardly travel round the universe in it if it wasn't, could I?"

Their arrival in CIC was cause for a muted but sincere celebration. Then EDI announced the incoming message.

"A-li-en ship. We are the Da-leks. We wish to speak with your lea-der."

"This is commander Shepard, of the SSV _Normandy_. I'm listening." Shepard replied.

"Com-man-der, you are har-bour-ing a fu-gi-tive from Da-lek just-ice. The Time-Lord known as the Doc-tor is res-pon-si-ble for the mur-der of ma-ny Da-leks and sub-jects of the Da-lek Em-pire. He has sto-len a TAR-DIS and a Da-lek de-vice of great va-lue.

"We ac-cept that you may be ig-nor-ant of his crimes. He may claim to be a re-fu-gee, but that is a lie. We re-quest that you hand ov-er the Doc-tor a-long with the TAR-DIS and the sto-len de-vice as a to-ken of good-will. This will a-ssure peace be-tween your people and the Da-lek Em-pire.

"What is your an-swer?"

"You're really rather good." Shepard noted. "Except I saw what you did on that asari colony."

"That was self-de-fence." Came the answer. "We app-roached peace-ful-ly and were fired on with-out war-ning. We re-tal-i-at-ed."

"That's bull!" Shepard snarled. "I saw the security tapes. That was a cold-blooded, deliberate massacre of innocent people! If you want the Doctor, or anything else on this ship, catch us if you can!

"Joker, go!"

Everyone grabbed onto something as the Normandy executed a sharp 180-degree turn and accelerated away. The Dalek saucer, underpowered and damaged, began to lumber in pursuit.

"Set course for Sahrabarik." Shepard ordered. "And stay just far enough ahead to make sure they don't lose us." He turned to the Doctor. "Now it's up to Jean-Luc and the _Enterprise_ to do their part!"

Will Riker was obviously a born pilot, Miranda concluded. Rather than actually flying this shuttle, he was permitting it to drift, but only in the direction he wanted. The vast Borg cube -bigger than some moons she had seen – filled the viewport.

"How come they don't see us?" She asked.

Riker shrugged. "Mostly because they don't want to." He said. "The Borg are only interested in anything advanced or unique enough to assimilate, or powerful enough to be a threat. Flying like this, with our emissions masked, we're just a piece of space junk. Even if we hit them, we wouldn't scratch the hull."

"I guess that makes sense, if you understand these Borg." Miranda allowed. "But surely they must be aware of the _Enterprise_?"

"Same story." Riker told her. "The ship is just at the edge of their sensor range. But we've adjusted her systems to mask life-signs and give false energy signatures. To anyone scanning her, she looks like an old-style unmanned inter-system freighter. Nothing worth Borg attention."

"I would have thought," Samara said, "that you would have more advanced stealth technology, Commander."

Riker shook his head. "We have treaties with the Romulan and Klingon empires that forbid the Federation to develop cloaking technology. Apart from that one development, the Federation has more ships and better tech than either. Their ability to cloak their ships evens the odds.

"Here we go!"

With that, and the smallest of bumps, the shuttle attached itself to the side of the cube.

"From here, we can beam aboard without being detected." Riker said. "After that, it's just being careful."

There were four in the Away Team: Riker and Miranda, who had the main task of the mission, a Security CPO named Styles and Samara, who had insisted on seeing the Borg vessel for herself. They emerged in a largish room lined with machinery but otherwise empty.

Miranda gazed around. The room was dimly-lit, the air tasted flat and sterile, like it did in a re-breather unit. The equipment was clean, but looked random and untidy. There were devices from several different kinds of technology, all clearly functional, but no attempt had been made to harmonise their design, or even to make it ergonomic. Heavy, insulated cables came in through the walls and floor and were laid to their destinations by the shortest route. No trunking or any attempt to conceal them.

"The Borg are all about efficiency." Will stated. "As long as it works, they don't care how it looks. Most of it is directly operated by the central Matrix of the cube. Anything that requires manual interface can be operated by the nearest drone, and they don't need to sit or worry about RSI.

"Let's go."

The corridors were uniform, straight and laid on a regular grid. There were relatively few side-rooms, the walls were mostly composed of more machinery. Occasionally, they encountered clusters of drones, all standing in upright units to which they seemed to be connected by tubes and wires. At the first one of these, they stopped and looked. There were several different species there. Humans, Klingons, rangy, pointed-eared ones who could have been either Vulcans or Romulans – according to Riker, it was not easy to tell them apart at a glance – and a single asari, clearly taken from Rainbow World. Samara bowed her head: "Whatever has become of your body, sister, may the Goddess protect and cherish your soul." She murmured.

As diverse as the drones were, they all had some things in common. They were hairless, grey-skinned, clad in heavy, tight black garments. All had had the left arm and hand replaced with some kind of prosthesis – though each one appeared to have a different function. All of them had the left eye either replaced or covered with some kind of lens. Riker told them that both the lenses and the prostheses were modular, able to be exchanged for others depending on the assigned task.

Later, as they were passing another drone cluster, one of them activated, the tubes and wires pulling clear of the body. She – it had been a woman – stepped out of her unit and moved off along the corridor, passing within a foot of the Away Team. Her gaze was directed straight ahead and she took no notice of any of them.

"See?" Riker said. "Until or unless we do something the system construes as a threat, they don't even see us!"

The atmosphere aboard this ship was oppressive, and Miranda was glad when, guided by Rikers' tricorder, they found their way to where the mass-effect generators had been placed. Here they found an unexpected bonus, an operational mass-effect drive.

"They didn't get this on Rainbow World." Miranda stated. "This comes from a frigate-class ship!"

"They must have run across one and assimilated it before we caught up with them." Riker said. "It's linked up to their systems, but not in use. They may be experimenting with it or using it as a back-up in case their warp drive fails.

"Does it come from a Council or Alliance ship?"

Miranda shook her head. "It's turian-built, but an obsolete model. Look at that insignia painted on it. That's the Blue Suns' badge. It was a merc ship, probably bought illegally before it could be decommissioned.

"Still, it's a stroke of luck for us. Let's get this done, I want to get out of here!"

They set to work, fitting and activating the discreet device that Data and Tali had designed and Geordi had produced.

They had just finished when a drone came out of nowhere, heading toward the engine. Reacting without thinking, Styles fired his phaser. The drone fell with a crash, just as another came round the same corner. This one clearly saw Styles and began to move toward him. This time, his phaser had no effect and the drone grabbed him. A tube extended from the back of its hand and was plunged into Styles' neck. At the same moment, Samara held up her hands, which glowed blue. An aura of the same colour surrounded the three remaining team members.

The drone released Styles, who turned to look at his comrades. Black veins were already beginning to spread from his neck across his face. Obviously aware of his impending fate, Styles nodded once, then placed his phaser under his jaw and blew his own head off.

The drone stared down at him for a moment, then looked up and began to move toward the engine again.

"Back away slowly." Samara whispered. "Stay within the aura, but do not let the drone enter it."

Whatever she was doing, Riker noted, it was working. The drone was looking straight through them. It went directly to the engines and began to work on the connections. Two more came round the corner, picked up the bodies and carried them away.

"Time to go." Riker said grimly. Outside the engine room, Samara was able to drop her biotic field.

"It was the same one I used to conceal us from the Seekers at the Collector base." She said. "They too were drones, like these Borg, and my instincts told me that it would work."

"Good instincts." Riker said. "Now, let's get out of here!"

Picard had just received Rikers' laconic report from the safely-inbound shuttle when Dr Crusher arrived on the bridge.

"Ah, Beverley," he greeted her, "is everything ready?"

She nodded. "All passengers and non-combat crew have been moved to the saucer section, Jean-Luc."

"Excellent." He nodded. "Now, you know your orders?"

"Yes." She said, then at his questioning glance, she added. "As soon as you get to the Battle Bridge, I'm to separate the saucer and proceed at best speed, avoiding contact with local traffic and settlements, to the Sahrabarik System in the Terminus sector. We will rendezvous with the main section there, if you don't come and meet us before.

"What happens, Jean-Luc, if this doesn't work? Or even if it does and the main section is destroyed and you get yourself killed?"

"Then you are in command, Beverley, and must use your own discretion." He told her firmly. "You can find a habitable world to settle, and cannibalise the saucer if you wish. Alternatively, you may wish to offer the ship to the Human Alliance or the Galactic Council. Even without the main section, it would be a considerable asset, not to mention the contents of our database.

"Whatever you decide, your priority will be to find a safe home for these people, Beverley."

"Understood." She replied. "Two things before you go, Jean-Luc. One, try to spend some time with Samara. Oh, don't give me that innocent look! I've known you too long and too well. She's special to you, and you are to her. Don't waste it!"

"And the second thing?" He asked.

"Don't die!" She commanded.

"I will make every effort not to." He promised.

She hugged him then, tightly. "Godspeed, Jean-Luc." She whispered in his ear. He nodded, then left for the Battle Bridge.

It was an hour later. The shuttle had docked and the _Enterprise_ main section was racing toward the cube at flank speed.

"Course laid in for Sahrabarik." Riker reported from the helm.

"Very well, Number One. Go to Red Alert and commence attack run. You may fire when ready, Mr Worf."

"Aye, sir."

At maximum impulse, the _Enterprise_ swooped past the cube and unleashed a volley of torpedoes.

"Several direct hits, minimal damage." Worf reported. "And they are pursuing us."

"Maximum warp. Engage!" Picard ordered.

A few moments later, Horek reported. "They are following us. Their speed is holding at Warp Nine-point-five. Our current velocity is Warp Nine-point-seven-five. We are outdistancing them."

"Reduce speed to Warp Nine-point-six." Picard said. "We can't get too far ahead, or this may not work."


	8. Chapter 8

**Of Cats and Dark Energy**

 **Part 8: Winner Takes a Trip**

"The Terminus Sector is right on the edge of explored space." Shepard was telling Data. "It's outside any major jurisdiction, but not uninhabited. There are human colonies there, people who don't want to live under Alliance or Council government. There are also mining colonies, trading posts, mercenary bases and groups of exiles. The entire Sector is crawling with pirates, slavers and every other kind of villain."

"There are several such sectors near Federation space." Data admitted. "Mostly dominated by cultures who are warp-capable but refuse to join the Federation. The Klingons, Cardassians and Romulans tend to annexe such worlds in their territory. The Ferengi simply exploit them."

"Nice." Shepard commented. "Anyway, Sahrabarik is right at the heart of the Terminus Sector. But what makes it unique is that it has two mass relays. One is just the standard article. The other is the Omega-4 Relay.

"That one's different from any other relay. It's a different colour, and it can only send you to one place. The Galactic Core."

"And the Core is, of course, extremely dangerous." Data noted. "Filled with closely-crowded black holes, residual energy from the Big Bang and planetary debris. The gravitational tides alone are sufficient to tear any ship apart."

"Which is why the Reapers built an outpost there for the Collectors. Their base had a powerful mass-effect field that created a safe zone, and the Collector and Reaper ships had a special IFF that guided them into it.

"But we destroyed that base, and the safe zone with it."

"Are there any inhabited planets in the Sahrabarik system?" Data wanted to know.

"No planets," Shepard told him, "but there is a space station. Omega. Built on, into and around a big asteroid. Nearly eight million inhabitants."

"Can we expect assistance from them?" Data asked.

Shepard laughed. "Unless anybody is looking out a window, they won't even notice what's going on!" He said. "Omega has no law, no government. An honest person can make a living there, providing they don't mind looking the other way. If you're not so honest, it's a place to get rich quick or get dead even quicker.

"Omega is where you go to sell stuff you don't really own, or buy stuff ordinary stores don't carry. You can get weapons there the military won't use and armour that the weapons can't dent. It's where you go if you don't want to be found and where the people looking for you can hire somebody to find you.

"All the mercenary groups, Eclipse, the Blue Suns, the Blood Pack, keep bases there and squabble over territory. But the place is run by an asari gangster called Aria T'Loak. I've had dealings with her in the past, and she trusts me – to a point – but there's no need or reason to contact her about this.

"Even she couldn't get the population to evacuate. Besides, any Dalek landing in Omega would be stripped down for parts before it got ten feet!"

"I'd pay money to see that!" The Doctor remarked. "Only I don't carry money."

"Entering Sahrabarik now." Joker informed them. "Picking up another ship, cruiser-size."

"Is it the _Enterprise_?" Shepard asked.

"About half of it, by the look of things. Either they've been in one Hell of a fight, or there's something they didn't tell us!" Joker replied.

An image flashed up on Shepards' monitor. Data looked over his shoulder.

"They must have separated the saucer." He said. "That would be wise. Without it, the main section is more manoeuvrable and slightly faster. The civilians and non-combat crew will also be out of harms' way."

"So the _Enterprise_ is actually two ships?" This was Tali, at a nearby station.

"Not entirely." Data explained. "Both sections have computer cores, life support, fusion reactors and impulse drives. But the saucer section has no warp drive, though it does have the main phaser arrays. The main section has the warp core, photon torpedo bays and the secondary phaser banks."

"Picard to _Normandy_. Good to see you, Commander. Our guests accepted the invitation and should be along shortly. How about yours?"

"Coming along." Shepard replied. "Let's take our seats for the main feature, shall we?"

The Borg cube and Dalek saucer entered the system simultaneously, and both stopped in their tracks.

"They are scanning each other." EDI reported. "I have tapped into their communications. This should be interesting."

The first voice was clear, precise and matter-of-fact. It sent a chill down Shepards' spine.

"We are Borg. You will be assimilated. Your biological and technological uniqueness will be added to our perfection. Resistance is futile."

The response was immediate. "We are Da-leks. We are per-fec-tion. You are a-bom-in-a-tion. You will be ex-ter-min-at-ed!"

"What was all that about?" Shepard asked.

The Doctor sighed. "The Borg are the ultimate hybrids. To a species as obsessed with purity as the Daleks, they're also the ultimate obscenity."

The two massive ships approached each other. The cube was larger, and undamaged, while the saucer had been badly mauled in the Time-War.

"Gonna be a short fight." Grunt commented.

"Wait and see." The Doctor told him.

The saucer opened fire with a volley of missiles, which expended themselves uselessly against the Borg shields. In response, the Borg engaged their powerful tractor beams and began to draw the saucer toward a massive door that opened in the cube.

"They're being pulled in." Garrus noted. "They're not putting up much of a fight."

"Wait." The Doctor said again.

Then the Dalek ship was fully inside the Borg shields. Instantly, it cut loose with every weapon it had. Missiles and beam weapons similar to, but larger and more potent than, the ones used by individual Daleks. Within moments, that whole side of the cube was aflame, and the Dalek weapons were boring steadily deeper.

"Hang on a second!" Grunt said. "EDI, can you zoom in on that opening in the cube?"

The view narrowed down, to show squads of Daleks leaving the saucer and flying through space into the cube.

"They're boarding!" Grunt said. "They must be very brave or completely mad! There can't be more than a couple hundred Daleks on that saucer, but there could be thousands of Borg on that ship!"

"A bit of both, brave and insane." The Doctor replied. "But mostly arrogant. Convinced of their own superiority and invincibility. I grew up among people like that."

It was clear that the Daleks had taken out any weapon mounts on that side of the cube, which now began to rotate to bring its other weapons to bear. Energy beams lashed out to flare against the Dalek shields, but before they could penetrate, pinpoint accurate counter-attacks disabled the projectors.

Over the comlink to the _Enterprise_ , Worf reported. "Sensors indicate that the Dalek boarding party is making steady progress despite heavy resistance. They are destroying everything in their path."

"How is that possible?" Picard asked. "When we've fought the Borg in the past, they've always adapted to our tactics and weapons too quickly for us to keep up."

"The Daleks adapt, too." The Doctor explained. "But they do it differently. When a Borg drone encounters a new weapon or tactic, it sends a report to the Collective, the Collective analyses it, formulates a response and sends it out to every other drone. It takes milliseconds.

"Whenever the Daleks encounter a new threat, each _individual_ Dalek that sees it is able to analyse it and formulate a response - the same response -instantly, without having to refer to a central authority. Then they send the information across the Dalek internal network. It takes a few milliseconds less than the Borg process, but a few milliseconds is all a Dalek needs!

"Single Borg drones have little or no real intelligence, but every individual Dalek is a genius in its' own right, with the ability to make decisions for itself. That's the real difference."

The cube was now in flames on four sides, listing badly, and beginning to drift, but Worf had another caution.

"Borg self-repair systems are active, and are beginning to speed up. Unless this is finished quickly, there may be a stalemate. If it becomes a battle of attrition, then the advantage is with the Borg."

"That doesn't matter to us." Shepard said. "As long as one of them takes the other out."

"It may not be that simple Shepard." This was Miranda. "The longer this goes on, the more likely it is that someone on Omega will notice. Once that happens, we'll be hip-deep in scavengers and salvage crews. Not only will people get killed, but if any of that technology gets into the wrong hands..."

As if on cue, EDI said, "I have a call from Omega, Commander."

The face on the viewscreen was an agelessly-lovely asari one, but the eyes were cold. The voice, under the light tone, had more than a hint of steel.

"Commander Shepard." She said. "Interesting to see you again."

"Hello, Aria." Shepard said. "What can I do for you?"

"Cool as ever, I see." She responded. "A lot of people here were glad to see you going through the Omega-4 relay, Shepard. A lot of them were also really pissed that you came back through it. I wasn't one of them, I figured the Galaxy is a safer place with you in it.

"Now, I'm not so sure, though. Because now here you are again, with three ships like nothing I've ever seen before, two of them having a battle-royal on my doorstep.

"You gonna tell me what's going on, or don't I need to know?"

"Aria, I promise you, you don't _want_ to know!" Shepard told her. "You'd probably never sleep again. For now, just put the word out for people to stay indoors. Whichever of those ships survives, I'm going to have to fight, and I don't need mercs and scavengers underfoot when I do!"

Aria gave a crooked grin. "If you were anyone else, I couldn't do it." She said. "But all I have to do is mention your name. Commander Shepard, the Spectre who ran the Omega-4 relay and came back. The man who put Vido Santiago and Donovan Hock down. According to the rumours, you even have the Shadow Broker onside. Nobody here is gonna want to mess with you, Shepard!

"Next time you're in town, come see me. I may have something for you."

With that, she closed the channel. Shepard turned to the main screen again. It looked as if Worf was right. The cube seemed to be slowly recovering from the initial assault. But was it quick enough? The Dalek bombardment was relentless, and who knew what was going on inside? Then Worf spoke again.

"I am detecting a rapidly spreading molecular instability in the Borg ship! The Dalek boarding party is being beamed back to the saucer!"

What happened next was difficult to describe afterwards. The Dalek saucer withdrew a few kilometres, and the cube... _dissolved._ It was like watching a sugar cube in a glass of hot water. The outer skin of the cube began to detach itself in clouds of what looked like dust, which swirled away and dissipated. The process continued, eating away the substance of the cube unevenly, but inevitably. In less than five minutes, the cube was gone, nothing but a cloud of rapidly-dispersing space dust.

"What the Hell...!" Shepard exclaimed.

"No time, Commander!" Picard snapped. "We have to deal with that saucer before it turns on the Omega station!"

"Understood, Captain." Shepard put his amazement aside. "Fire on my mark. Three, two, one, mark!"

Both ships fired their main armament at the saucer. It was extreme range for the Thanix cannons, and the photon torpedoes were deflected by the Dalek shields, but it didn't matter. The aim was to get the Daleks' attention, and it worked. The saucer bore down on the two ships, positioned close to the Omega-4 relay. Over EDIs monitoring, they could hear the Daleks' chant "Ex-ter-min-ate! Ex-ter-min-ate!"

The saucer began to fire at both targets impartially. "Hold position!" Shepard heard Picard order. "Warp power to shields!"

"We're taking a beating, Adam." Tali said. "Our shields can hold the missiles, but the beams are eating the armour away fast!"

"Just a few more seconds..." Shepard said. Then the _Normandy_ shuddered. "Hull breach in Engineering!" Tali reported. "Shuttle bay, no casualties. I'm sealing it off."

"Saucer is now within range." EDI reported.

"Go!" Shepard ordered. As the Normandy swung off and darted away, he heard Picard give the same order. The Dalek ship hurtled between them, close to the relay.

"Now, EDI!" Shepard snapped.

"Signal sent." EDI replied.

Aboard the Dalek saucer, the captured mass-effect engines came online at full power. At the same moment, the device Kasumi had planted sent out a very specific signal. Outside, the Omega-4 relay flared into life, it's fields seized the now massless saucer, and before a single Dalek could react, the ship had been sent on a one-way trip.

There was a moments' silence, then Riker said: "And todays' winning contestant receives a free trip to the Galactic Core!"

"OK, so we did it." Shepard said. "But I'd still like to know what happened to that Borg ship. One minute they were starting to recover, the next..poof! What happened?"

"I would like to know the same." Picard agreed. Everyone looked at the Doctor.

"Do I have to explain everything?" He grumbled. "Can't you work it out for yourselves? The Borg assimilated a Dalek, that's all!"

"That was a scenario I had considered." Picard said. "I had assumed it was a worst-case. The combination of Dalek and Borg would be unstoppable."

"You can't _combine_ a Dalek with anything!" The Doctor snapped. "They don't _combine_! Haven't you been paying attention, any of you?"

"I had expected that the Daleks would resist any such attempt." Data allowed. "Possibly to the extent of self-destruction."

"Like Styles." Riker added grimly.

The Doctor threw up his hands. "No wonder you always need me to put things right!" He growled. "Carry on underestimating threats like that and you'll end up extinct! Of course the Daleks would resist. But a Dalek wouldn't just self-destruct. Not if it could take some enemies with it!

"Look, when the Borg assimilate something, they do it by injecting it with nanoprobes. The probes connect whatever it is to the Collective – machine or living being – and make it Borg. But a Dalek _will_ not allow itself to be made anything other than Dalek. According to themselves, they are the supreme race, and to combine with anything else is to lessen themselves.

"So the Dalek fought back. It took the nanoprobes and overwrote the Borg code with Dalek code. The imperative to exterminate anything – including themselves – that isn't pure Dalek. Then it let the probes destroy it and spread throughout the cube, reprogramming all the other probes. They took the cube and everything in it apart at the molecular level, then shut themselves down. There's nothing left of that cube but the atoms it was made up of, floating in space."

"Did you know that would happen?" Picard asked.

"I knew it was possible." The Doctor answered. "But I had no more idea than you of what the outcome of that battle would be."

"OK." Shepard said, aware that the Doctor would not tell them any more than he wanted them to know. "So what happens now?"

"Now we rendezvous with the saucer section." Picard said. "Then we have to put our minds to the problem of getting back where we belong."

"Oh, that's easy!" The Doctor told him. "I worked that out a while ago."

The _Normandy_ accompanied the _Enterprise_ back along the trail until they met up with the saucer again. Shepard and his crew watched, fascinated, as the two sections moved slowly together and rejoined with barely a bump.

"OK." Joker said from the cockpit. "Now I'm jealous. What a ship!"

"I see." EDI said. "Am I no longer good enough for you, Jeff?"

"Oh, right!" He replied. "As if I'd be caught dead on any ship that didn't have you on it! When I build one of those, the first thing I'm doing is installing you aboard!"

"You got out of that one well." The AI told him.

"How long have those two been married?" Zaeed asked Garrus.

According to the Doctor, they needed to get back to the spot where the _Enterprise_ had first appeared.

"Have to put you right back where you started." He stated. "Otherwise, there could be all sorts of consequences."

"You have yet to tell us, Doctor, exactly how you plan to achieve this." Picard pointed out.

"Oh! Yes!" The Doctor shook his head. "Humans! You always want explanations. Well, it was that Dalek in the warehouse that made it all clear. It told me that they'd been trying to retreat from the Gates of Elysium when the TimeLords attacked them with Dark Energy.

"Now, as I said before, there isn't a lot of free Dark Energy in that universe, but the TimeLords did in fact possess a number of Dark Energy artefacts. In the course of the Time War, they tried to weaponise a few of them. If they hit the saucer with Dark Energy just as it went into hyperdrive, they'd have sent it on a cat hunt. Looking for a quantum state where that particular cat was still alive That's what brought them here.

"Now Borg TransWarp technology is similar in a lot of ways to Dalek hyperdrive, and if that cube ran across a stray strand or bubble of Dark Energy in the TransWarp corridor, the same would have happened."

"So what you're saying," LaForge said, "is that when we tested the TransWarp module on the Enterprise, we must have been near a Dark Energy source?"

"Exactly." The Doctor said. "If I'm right – and I usually am – all we have to do is find out which pole of the TransWarp field the Dark Energy went in at, and inject some into the opposite pole when you switch it on again."

"A Dalek saucer, a Borg cube, and the _Enterprise_ , all meeting similar 'accidents' that put us in the same place at the same time." Picard said. "Surely that's not a coincidence, Doctor?"

"Oh, these things always happen in threes." The Doctor said dismissively. "I've seen coincidences even a soap opera writer couldn't dream up!"

It was a leisurely trip back. The Doctor and LaForge had work to do, so there was no point in rushing. There was a good deal of to-ing and fro-ing between the ships. Worf introduced Garrus and Grunt to his 'callisthenics' program in the Holodeck. He also introduced them to Klingon Bloodwine and Romulan Ale – Security had to intervene. The Commissary officers on the _Enterprise_ supplied Mess-Sergeant Gardner of the _Normandy_ with a generous amount of replicated ingredients, guaranteeing some excellent meals for the crew.

But eventually, the day came when all was ready, and there were no more excuses. There was a final, formal dinner aboard the _Enterprise_ , and then it was time.

Data dressed quickly and efficiently as always. Jack lay on the bed watching him. Finally, he turned to her.

"I must return to the _Enterprise_ , now." He told her.

"Sure." Jack said, then got up and came over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders. "Now look, Mr Fully-Functional, I'm not one for soppy goodbyes, any more than you are, but stuff needs saying.

"Data, even in your ever-so-civilised universe, there are always gonna be some women who just want, or need, a no-strings romp around the bedroom with a guy who'll treat them right and won't make a big deal of it. There are also gonna be some who just want to talk to a guy without him always trying to fix them, like most guys do.

"So, you quit hiding your light under a bushel and be that guy, Data! Spread yourself around a little, OK?

"And thanks for everything."

She kissed him on both cheeks and let him go. She smiled as she watched him leave, she felt better than she had done for years.

Data made his way up to the Conference Room, from where he was going to beam out. Tali was waiting there for him.

"I still feel bad about the way I acted when we first met, Data." She said. "You've been nothing but kind, brave and helpful to us all, and you've changed the way I think about AIs. Whether that will change my peoples' attitude remains to be seen, but I will do my part.

"I want to give you this, it's everything we have about the mass-effect. I know your universe has different rules, but if anyone can make use of this there, you can.

"Thank you for everything, Data'Soong vas Enterprise. Keelah sel'ai."

Data accepted the data chip with a nod. "Thank you, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." He replied. "Live long and prosper."

In Riker's cabin, Miranda put her arms round the tall Commander and smiled up into his face.

"Just so you know," she said, "I'm not the kind of girl who carries a torch. But that doesn't mean I'll ever forget you, William T Riker, or the times we've had together. It's been wonderful, and I don't regret a minute of it! I just hope that Deanna finally realises what's right there for her whenever she wants to reach out for it."

"Am I so transparent?" He asked.

"Only to a woman who pays attention." She told him. "Now give me a kiss and let's go!"

Picard and Samara walked down the corridor arm-in-arm.

"This has been an extraordinary few days for me, in many ways." Picard was saying. "Your company being not the least of it, Samara."

"Then I am glad, Jean-Luc." She replied. "Because I have seldom, in a long life, encountered quite so remarkable a man as you are."

"I'm flattered." He replied.

She stopped then, and turned to face him, placing a hand on his chest.

"Understand this, Jean-Luc," she said, "an asari mating is more than just a brief joining. When we meld as deeply as you and I did, when both individuals are strong-willed and great-hearted enough, then something rare happens.

"An echo of me will always be with you, Jean-Luc, and I shall always carry an echo of you. I will treasure it."

"As will I." He promised.

"Well, Jean-Luc," Shepard said over the comlink, "it's been an eye-opener in a lot of ways! The Doctor tells me we shouldn't talk about it – not directly or openly, anyway."

"I doubt we would be believed, Adam." Picard replied. "Still, part of our mission is to meet new civilisations or peoples, and learn about and from them. We shall make use – discreetly I assure you – of what we have learned from you. I imagine you will do the same. I hope so, anyway."

"We'll do our best." Shepard promised. "Good luck and Godspeed, Captain."

"And to you, Commander. Picard out."

A few minutes later, the Enterprise was suddenly outlined in black light, then it disappeared.

"I hope they made it." Miranda murmured.

"They did." The Doctor assured them. "Captain Picard and his crew have a great deal to do, and I happen to know that they did it."

"So that's it, then?" Shepard asked him. "All done?"

"All over." The Doctor asserted. "I'll be going, now."

"No offence," Shepard said, "but I hope we don't meet again, Doctor!"

"I am a harbinger of trouble, aren't I?" The TimeLord said quizzically.

"Because you only come when you are needed." Samara pointed out.

"I suppose so." He replied. "Still, it would be nice not to arrive in the middle of a crisis occasionally."

With that, and a brief wave, he left. Shortly after that, Engineer Donnelly reported that the TARDIS had departed. It wasn't until a few hours later that they realised he'd taken the Progenitor Device with him.

The Doctor stood in the open doorway of the TARDIS and watched the Progenitor Device gently fall into the nearby star. There was a certain elegance in disposing of the thing in Skaros' own sun. But there were other loose ends to tie up.

"Hello, Jet." The Doctor said.

The tall woman turned, her fine ebony features breaking into a wide smile.

"Doctor!" She said brightly. "Long time no see! Come slumming among the repairmen, have you?"

"I have every respect for what your people do, you know that." He told her. "But if you were going to go off the reservation, you should have told me first. I could have helped."

"I'm sure I don't know what you mean!" The tone, and the smile, were a little forced now.

"There's an old Earth saying," he told her, "it goes 'once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action'. A Dalek saucer, a Borg cube and a Federation starship, all having identical Dark Energy accidents in a universe with almost no Dark Energy. That's not a coincidence, so who better to ask about it than a Dark Energy specialist?"

"Surely you don't suspect..." she began. He cut her off.

"I don't suspect, I know!" He snapped. "I examined that TransWarp module on the _Enterprise_. You were a bit too precise, just the right amount, no more, no less. Not a natural phenomenon, but only I would know that."

"A universe was at risk." She pointed out.

"Since when do your lot care about a minor universe outside the main stream?" He demanded.

"When it affects the main stream." She told him. "We had to save Shepard so he could save you, a long time ago."

"What?" The Doctor was taken aback.

"You've lost so many memories of the Time War." Jet explained. "But your life was saved by someone at the Battle of the Silver Devastation. Someone from an army summoned by your people from other universes."

"That was the first battle where the TimeLords used the Could-Have-Been King!" The Doctor realised. "One of them saved me that day...wait a minute!"

Jet nodded. "He was older, he had scars, but that man, that soldier among the Meanwhiles and Never-weres, was Commander Adam Shepard. Of course, he didn't recognise you, and you didn't call yourself the Doctor back then."

"I wasn't the Doctor back then." He told her. "Not for a long time."

"I know." She said. "But you are now, and the universe, all the universes, need the Doctor.

"Not a tale of cock and bull, Doctor, but a tale of cats and Dark Energy."


End file.
